Ahmed al-Sharaa, leader of Syria, congratulated President Donald Trump on his inauguration.
“We are confident that he is the leader to bring peace to the Middle East and restore stability to the region,” Sharaa’s administration said, as per the Times of Israel. “We look forward to improving the relations between our two countries based on dialogue and understanding.”
SDF General Commander Mazloum Abdi also congratulated Trump, stating Syria looks forward to “continuing cooperation in achieving stability, defeating terrorism, and supporting peace in Northeast Syria. Together, we can build a better future for our peoples.”
Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, is the leader of al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
The U.S. government’s Rewards for Justice website once included a page for al-Julani, which read, “Al-Jawlani leads the al-Nusrah Front (ANF), al-Qa’ida’s (AQ) affiliate in Syria. In January 2017, ANF merged with several other hardline opposition groups to form Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). While al-Jawlani is not the leader of HTS, he remains the leader of AQ-affiliated ANF, which is at the core of HTS.”
“Under al-Jawlani’s leadership, ANF has carried out multiple terrorist attacks throughout Syria, often targeting civilians. In April 2015, ANF reportedly kidnapped, and later released, approximately 300 Kurdish civilians from a checkpoint in Syria. In June 2015, ANF claimed responsibility for the massacre of 20 residents in the Druze village of Qalb Lawzeh in Idlib province, Syria,” the website continued.
After the regime of Bashar al-Assad fell, then-President-elect Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!”
