Should Hayat Tahrir al-Sham still be considered a terror group?
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The UK says it is “considering” removing Hayat Tahrir al-Sham from its list of terrorist organisations following its victory over Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria.
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In brief…
- Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has links to al-Qaeda, but its leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani has said these were ended in the best interests of Syrian people.
- Ribal al-Assad, the cousin of Bashar al-Assad and pro-Democracry campaigner, tells The News Agents that Syria deserves protection under a constitution, not HTS.
- He says the UK removing HTS from its list of terror organisations would be a “mistake”, and could lead to a Taliban-style leadership.
What's the story?
The rule of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is over, described by Keir Starmer as a "good thing" for the country.
But in the same breath, he also called for the ongoing "rejection of terrorism and violence".
That's because the group assuming control of Syria – to much celebration by its people – is a proscribed terror group in the UK, US and in other parts of the world.
Government officials have suggested the UK could reconsider its listing of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) as a terrorist organisation, having made public moves to distance itself from its previous ties to terror and establish itself as a legitimate ruling force in Syria.
Ribal al-Assad, the cousin of Bashar al-Assad and founder and Director of the Organisation for Democracy and Freedom in Syria, has called for "peaceful and representative democracy" in Syria now its former dictatorship is over.
"Let's work on a new constitution where all citizens will be equal under the rule of law, regardless of religion, ethnic group, gender and sex," he tells The News Agents.
Emily Maitlis believes there is still a lot of hesitancy in the West when it comes to extreme rulership changes in the Middle East, following the death of Saddam Hussein in 2006. His demise, and the Iraq war (which the UK was greatly involved in), has left the country still suffering the after-effects of war, economic downfall and huge political upheaval.
"The lesson learned belatedly is, if you take away the dictator, you suddenly realise what's crawling around under the stone," she says.
What's the geopolitical impact of Damascus falling into the hands of rebels?
Who are Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)?
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) formed in 2017 when several militia groups, involved in the Syrian civil war opposing Assad's forces, merged into one group.
HTS was the group that took power in Damascus following the depletion of support to al-Assad’s government from Russian, Iranian and Hezbollah troops due to them being needed in other conflicts closer to their own territories.
HTS has been accused of being part of al-Qaeda, and while the group has denied these claims, in 2021, its leader – Abu Mohammed al-Jolani – also said previous collaboration with the terror network had been needed to defend the people of Syria from al-Assad.
He said there was a "break-up" between the groups which was in the interest of the Syrian people.
Lewis Goodall says there were links between HTS and terror groups as recently as 2016/2017.
Who is Abu Mohammed al-Jolani?
Abu Mohammed al-Jolani has been the leader of HTS since 2017.
He is considered to have been "appreciative" of the 9/11 terror attacks on New York's World Trade Centre, which killed 2,996 people at the time. The attack was carried out by al-Qaeda operatives – and this view was shared by "many" in the region.
"I think that gives you an insight into why Western governments are very concerned about what's coming at them in the form of Jolani," Emily says.
She adds he has been described by someone he attended school with as “an unremarkable boy who wore thick glasses and avoided attention, but was manipulatively intelligent and socially introverted.”
It’s believed he was radicalised in his mid to late teens.
"He went from being this very studious creature to being somebody who felt he had to start giving back,” Emily adds.
After entering Syria's presidential palace, al-Jolani gave a speech in which he promised to speak for "all Syrians", which Jon believes highlights his transition from a "jihadist of yesteryear to someone different today".
But he also says his words were simply "what the West wanted to hear."
Lewis Goodall says the man assuming the role as Syria's next president has tried hard to put distance between himself and al Qaeda.
"He's dropped his heavily conservative Islamic clothing. He's even changed his name," Lewis says.
"He has insisted that his government is tolerant of Syrians, of all religious groups, minorities, ethnicities and is not Islamist.
"But of course, as far as the West is concerned, that is still an open question."
Ribal al-Assad has concerns that under his rule Syria could be taken even further backwards than it was by his cousin.
"Bashar has brought the country 100 years back. We don't want to bring another 100 or 200 years back under people who could rule like the Taliban did," he says.
"We don't want to hear Jolani say he will protect minorities. Minorities are not cattle. They are not sheep to be protected.
"The constitution will protect those people."
Should Hayat Tahrir al-Sham still be considered a terror group?
Pat McFadden, the minister for intergovernmental relations, has said the UK is "considering" the removal of HTS from its list of terror groups, following its ascent to power in Syria.
Emily says the UK's likely response will be to "wait and see what everyone else does. We are not leading on this one."
Ribal al-Assad describes the UK removing HTS from its list of terror groups as a potential "mistake".
"We have now many millions of people who are abroad, who are very highly educated, who want to see a genuine representative democracy," he says.
"In Syria we want a genuine democratic constitution. The people, when they rose against the Assad regime, against my cousin, they were looking west. They were looking at Western democracies.
"They weren't looking at a regime like in Afghanistan or Iran. Nobody wants that."
Jon names Nelson Mandela of African National Congress, Robert Mugabe of Zanu PF and Martin McGuiness of Sinn Fein as politicians and leaders with links to groups accused of terrorist activities.
"You are a terrorist until such times as you're in a position of government and [they] want to build a relationship with [you]," he says.
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