Ahmad al-Sharaa, who has been holding talks with western and Arab officials, is now the subject of an Iraqi arrest warrant for his role in ISIS war crimes against the country
News Desk - The Cradle
During a press conference with Sharaa, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said he discussed “fighting terrorism” with the former Nusra Front leader and ISIS affiliate while also focusing on “reconstruction efforts,” with which Safadi claimed that Jordan would provide assistance.
Safadi and Sharaa also held talks on trade, borders, humanitarian aid, and electricity. “Syria's security and stability are our security and stability,” the foreign minister added, expressing support for a transitional process and the drafting of a new constitution.
“We carried a message that we launched from Aqaba that this is a historic moment for the Syrian people and we want to make it a launch pad for a historic future. Sharaa realizes the importance of Jordanian–Syrian relations and the importance of cooperation together,” he added.
Sharaa held a separate meeting in Damascus with Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mohamed al-Khulaifi.
“We have extended an invitation to the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad [Al-Thani], to visit Syria,” the HTS leader said.
“The Qatari side was steadfast in its position at all stages alongside the Syrian people and expressed all support for Syria in its transitional phase,” he added. “We will begin broad strategic cooperation with Qatar during the coming period. Relations between Doha and Damascus will return better than they were before,” praising Qatar’s “honorable positions towards the Syrian people.”
The Qatari and Jordanian diplomats are the first Arab foreign ministers to meet with the HTS chief.
The Nusra Front – Al-Qaeda's branch in Syria headed by Sharaa, which evolved into HTS – received significant backing from Qatar since its establishment in 2012. The group was formed after Sharaa, Julani at the time, broke off from the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), which became ISIS after crossing from Syria into Iraq in 2013.
Qatar also played a role in rebranding the Nusra Front into Jaysh al-Fateh in 2015, which became Jabhat Fateh al-Sham in 2016 and HTS in 2017 with support from Doha.
Sharaa and his organization are responsible for numerous war crimes in Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq over the years.
Iraq’s judiciary issued an arrest warrant for the leader of the new Syria on 21 December.
Sharaa also held talks with a US diplomatic delegation in Damascus last week. A $10 million US bounty and terrorist designation on him has since been removed.
“Julani's rise from Al-Qaeda affiliate to a western-recognized ‘moderate’ leader exemplifies how geopolitics trumps ideology. For years, the west has pretended to fight terrorism while leveraging Julani and his vast Al-Qaeda and ISIS-linked terror network to destabilize Syria,” a correspondent for The Cradle wrote in an analysis published earlier this month.
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