Syrian opposition chief Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, head of the “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” group, sent an official message Thursday using his real name for the first time, after his fighters seized the strategic city of Hama.
“We congratulate the people of Hama for their victory,” said the message, bearing an image of al-Jolani and signed “Commander Ahmed al-Sharaa.”
The message was posted on the Telegram channel of opposition factions’ leadership, created just days after the offensive began on November 27.
In an interview in 2021 with American public broadcaster PBS, al-Jolani confirmed his real name was Ahmed al-Sharaa, and said his more frequently used nom de guerre was a reference to his family origins in Syria’s Golan Heights.
Israel seized much of the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and later annexed it in a move largely unrecognized by the international community.
Al-Golani, born in 1982, told PBS his grandfather was displaced from the Golan when the Israeli army entered the area.
The apparent switch in names comes as opposition fighters seize control of swathes of Syrian territory from the government, including the key cities of Aleppo and Hama.
The “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” group has sought to moderate its image in recent years, including by cutting ties with its one-time sponsor al-Qaeda, but experts say it faces an uphill battle convincing Western governments it has fully renounced hardline extremism.
“Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” says it no longer has any links to al-Qaeda after severing them in 2016, five years into Syria’s civil war.
It took on its current name the following year, arresting al-Qaeda and ISIS militants, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank.
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But it remains blacklisted by the United States and the European Union.
Several experts have warned the group has not fundamentally broken with its past despite its rebranding.
On Wednesday, images posted on the Telegram channel of “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” showed the bearded al-Jolani waving to supporters from an open-top car as he visited Aleppo’s landmark citadel.
Reuters
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