Syria’s de facto chief, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has mentioned the nation is exhausted by conflict and poses no risk to its neighbors or the West.
In an interview with the BBC in Damascus he known as for the lifting of sanctions towards Syria.
Sharaa led the lightning offensive that toppled the regime of Bashar al-Assad lower than two weeks in the past. He is the chief of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the dominant group within the insurgent alliance, and was beforehand recognized by his wartime alias of Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.
He mentioned HTS must be faraway from the checklist of terrorist organizations. It is designated as such by the UN, US, EU and UK, amongst many others, because it started as a splinter group of al-Qaeda, from which it cut up in 2016.
Sharaa mentioned HTS was not a terrorist group.
They didn’t goal civilians or civilian areas, he mentioned. In truth, they thought of themselves victims of the crimes of the Assad regime. Victims, he mentioned, shouldn’t be handled the identical as oppressors.
He denied wanting to show Syria right into a model of Afghanistan.
Sharaa mentioned the international locations are very totally different, with totally different traditions. Afghanistan was a tribal society. In Syria, he mentioned, there was a special mentality. She mentioned she believes in schooling for girls.
Sharaa was relaxed all through the interview, sporting civilian garments, and sought to reassure anybody who believes his group has not damaged with its extremist previous.
Many Syrians do not imagine him.
The actions of Syria’s new rulers within the coming months will point out the form of nation they need Syria to be – and the way they need to govern it.
