Syria is not a threat to the world, HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa tells BBC

Syria’s de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has said the country is exhausted by the war and is not a threat to its neighbors or the West.

In an interview with the BBC in Damascus, he called for the lifting of sanctions on Syria.

Sharaa led the lightning offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad’s regime less than two weeks ago. He is the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the dominant group in the rebel alliance, and was previously known by his wartime pseudonym Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.

He said HTS should be removed from the list of terrorist organizations. It is designated as such by the UN, the United States, the EU and the United Kingdom, among many others, since it began as a splinter group of Al Qaeda, from which it split in 2016.

Sharaa said HTS was not a terrorist group.

They did not target civilians or civilian areas, he said. In fact, they considered themselves victims of the crimes of the Assad regime. Victims, he stated, should not be treated the same as oppressors.

He denied that he wanted to turn Syria into a version of Afghanistan.

Sharaa said the countries were very different, with different traditions. Afghanistan was a tribal society. In Syria, he said, there was a different mentality. She said she believed in the education of women.

Sharaa appeared relaxed throughout the interview, dressed in civilian clothes, and tried to offer reassurance to all those who believe that his group has not broken with its extremist past.

Many Syrians do not believe him.

The actions of Syria’s new rulers in the coming months will indicate the kind of country they want Syria to be and the way they want to govern it.