About Ahmed al-Sharaa (formerly known as al Golani/al Jolani), leader of the HTS in Syria, because his military forces have members who are evidently more fundamentalist Islamists than he is, there is a chance that HTS will fragment because Sharaa isn’t Islamist enough.
I would not be surprised if there were assassination attempts on him from within his organization, as well as from outside his group.
Many of his men disobeyed orders to treat surrendering Syrian soldiers well. There is footage of his men summarily executing uniformed and civilian-clothed members of Syria’s military. This could be indicative of a few things, e.g. the hate of Assad troops goes deep, there is a bloodlust, and HTS men are willing to disobey orders to do what they want (perhaps driven by Islamist fanaticism).
And, as I’ve been saying over and over, Islamist is, Islamist does. Let’s wait and see what Sharaa gets up to or not. Maybe he really has become a “moderate” Muslim.
(*As a side note, it is fascinating to see Sharaa trying to change his public image and attempting a rebranding by doing things like wearing a Western suit and tie. So, here is my out-of-left-field caveat unrelated to the Syrian conflict: while this Islamist leader can put on a suit and tie in an attempt to create optics to win favour and for legitimization as a national leader in a country still at war, why can’t President Zelensky of Ukraine put on a suit, especially when he visits foreign dignitaries?)
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