Ahmed al-Sharaa

Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa (born 29 October 1982), also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julani, is a Syrian politician and former rebel commander who has served as the president of Syria since 2025. He previously served as the emir of Al-Nusra Front from 2012 to 2017, the emir of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from 2017 to 2025 and was the de facto leader of Syria from December 2024 until his appointment as president in January 2025.

Born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to a Syrian Sunni Muslim family from Daraa and the Golan Heights, he grew up in Syria's capital, Damascus. Al-Sharaa joined al-Qaeda in Iraq shortly before the 2003 invasion of Iraq and fought for three years in the Iraqi insurgency. American forces captured and imprisoned him from 2006 to 2011. His release coincided with the Syrian revolution against the Ba'athist dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad. Al-Sharaa created Al-Nusra Front in 2012 with the support of al-Qaeda to topple the Assad regime in the Syrian civil war. As the emir of al-Nusra Front, al-Sharaa built a stronghold in the northwestern Idlib Governorate. He resisted Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's attempts to merge al-Nusra Front with the Islamic State, leading to armed conflict between the two groups. In 2016, al-Sharaa cut al-Nusra's ties with al-Qaeda and launched a crackdown on its loyalists. Since breaking with al-Qaeda, he has sought international legitimacy by presenting a more moderate view of himself, renouncing transnational jihadism against Western nations, and focusing on governance in Syria while vowing to protect Syria's minorities.

Al-Sharaa merged al-Nusra with other organizations to form HTS in 2017 and served as its emir from 2017 to 2025. HTS established a technocratic administration known as the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG) in the territory it controlled in Idlib Governorate. The SSG collected taxes, provided public services, and issued identity cards to residents, though it faced protests and criticism within Idlib for authoritarian tactics and suppressing dissent. Al-Sharaa launched an 11-day offensive against the Assad regime in November 2024 which saw swift victories in Aleppo, Hama, Homs, and Damascus; Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia as his government collapsed.

Al-Sharaa became Syria's de facto leader, heading the post-revolutionary caretaker government from 8 December 2024 until 29 January 2025, when he was appointed president of Syria at the Syrian Revolution Victory Conference held in the People's Palace. As president, he focused on consolidating power, rebuilding state institutions, integrating military factions, and restoring Syria's international relations, including with the United States, Russia, and regional powers. Domestically, al-Sharaa pursued economic recovery, security stabilization, the return of Syrian refugees to their homes, and minority reconciliation, including signing an agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to integrate their military and civil institutions into the state, though negotiations on the integration remained inconclusive throughout 2025. In 2026, after clashes in Aleppo between the transitional government and SDF forces, he signed a decree stating that Syrian Kurds are an essential part of the Syrian people and recognized the Kurdish language. His government launched an offensive against the SDF, initially in the eastern Aleppo Governorate around Deir Hafir and Maskanah, before expanding to Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Al-Hasakah.

Al-Sharaa's first year as president saw massacres targeting Syrian Alawites and clashes in southern Syria, both involving government-affiliated troops, which led to criticism. After breaking the 1974 agreement, Israel intensified its limited invasion of southwestern Syria from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Al-Sharaa reaffirmed Syria's commitment to the 1974 deal and has opposed renewed conflict with Israel. He has condemned Iranian influence and plans to hold elections. Al-Sharaa signed a constitutional declaration establishing a five-year transition period and announced the formation of a transitional government.