WORLD
Syria’s main insurgent group seeks to move away from al-Qaida past, get off Western terrorism lists
By claiming deadly bombings, threatening retaliation against Western “crusader” forces, and using Islamist religious police to target women who were thought to be immodestly clad, the commander of a rebel group that controls parts of northwest Syria grew to renown over the previous ten years.
By promoting religious tolerance and pluralism, the man known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani is working hard to disassociate his organization, Hayat Tahrir al Sham, or HTS, from its al-Qaida roots.
He has disbanded the notorious religious police as part of the rebranding, and he has cracked down on extremist groups. A Mass was recently celebrated at a long-shuttered church in the province of Idlib for the first time in more than ten years.
Islamic law should not be imposed by force, Al-Golani said in front of a recent gathering of religious and municipal officials. In Saudi Arabia, which has recently loosened social restrictions following decades of strict Islamic governance, al-Golani said, “We don’t want the society to become hypocritical so that they pray when they see us and don’t once we leave.”
Al-Golani’s group is becoming more and more isolated at the time of the pivot. Restoring ties with Syrian President Bashar Assad are nations that had previously supported rebels in the country’s rebellion that descended into civil conflict.
Syria’s reinstatement to the Arab League last week was the outcome of a 12-year effort spearheaded by Saudi Arabia, a former Assad adversary.
Even Turkey, the largest state still supporting armed opposition organizations in Syria, has made a change in policy. For the first time since 2011, the Turkish foreign minister and his Syrian counterpart met in Moscow last week. Additionally present were Assad’s principal backers, the foreign ministers of Iran and Russia.
Even though the deployment of Turkish troops in northwest Syria continues to be a bone of contention, the meeting represented a significant step toward Damascus and Ankara mending fences.
In addition, the US offers a $10 million reward for information leading to al-Golani’s location and views HTS as a terrorist organization. It is a terrorist group according to the UN as well.
Two individuals were sanctioned earlier this month by the US and Turkey in conjunction with one another for allegedly raising money for extremist organizations like HTS.
Al-Golani gained notoriety in the early stages of the Syrian uprising in 2011, when he took control of the Nusra Front, the al-Qaida affiliate in Syria. A large number of the al-Qaida militants and top leaders who rushed to the organization’s base of operations in northern Syria later perished in American airstrikes.
Many believed the Nusra Front’s name change to Fatah al-Sham Front and announcement that it was breaking ties with al-Qaida in July 2016 was an effort to rehabilitate its reputation. Later, Fatah al-Sham combined with a number of other organizations to form Hayat Tahrir al Sham.
Al-Golani changed his appearance during that time, going from wearing white turbans and robes to wearing shirts and pants, and made his first public appearance. His forces pursued Islamic State group terrorists who fled to Idlib following their defeat and crushed Horas al-Din, also known as the “Guardians of Religion,” a rival terrorist organization that included hardline al-Qaida members who split from HTS.
The U.S. administration does not seem to have been impressed by the transformation in al-Golani’s public image.
Al-Golani is pictured in posts on the Rewards for Justice social media pages sporting a light blue shirt and a dark blue blazer. The caption in Arabic reads: “Hello, lovely al-Golani. Stylish shirt. No matter what you wear, you will always be a terrorist. Remember the $10 million reward.
To manage day-to-day operations in the area, HTS established a so-called “salvation government” in 2017. In the beginning, it made an effort to impose a rigorous interpretation of Islamic law. Only women’s faces and hands were allowed to be shown, and religious police were in charge of enforcing this rule. To let individuals to attend the weekly prayers, its members would compel businesses to close on Fridays. Music making and public water pipe smoking were both prohibited.
A ceasefire was established in March 2020 between Russia and Turkey, which back opposing sides in the conflict. Since then, there has been a comparatively calm in the rebel-held northwest of Syria, and HTS has concentrated its efforts on putting pressure on the surviving IS and other jihadist factions. Earlier this year, the think tank International Crisis Group stated in a report that HTS had changed and “distanced itself from global jihadism.”
In the predominantly Sunni Arab northwest, HTS has occasionally presented itself as a defender of minorities.
In the town of Jinderis, four Kurdish men were shot dead in March by members of an armed group with Turkish support as they kindled a fire to commemorate the Kurdish new year. In a meeting with the families of the victims and other Kurdish locals, Al-Golani vowed to exact retribution on the murderers.
In a 2021 interview with PBS, al-Golani referred to his group’s classification as terrorists as “unfair” and “political,” adding that even though he had questioned Western policy in the area, “we didn’t say we want to fight (them).”
Al-Golani declared that his relationship with al-Qaeda had come to an end and that even in the past, his organization had been “against carrying out operations outside of Syria.”
Al-Golani continues to be a terrorist, according to a statement from the State Department, which added that it would not comment on any potential discussions regarding revising such designations.
The removal of HTS and al-Golani from the United States’ list of terrorist organizations is unlikely, according to Aron Lund, a fellow at the Century International research group. According to what Lund can tell, the U.S. government is still gravely concerned about the group’s ties to international jihadism.
Al-Golani is attempting to demonstrate that he is in control of Idlib, according to Waiel Olwan, a researcher at the Turkey-based think tank Jusoor for Studies, who also thinks al-Golani is doing this to ensure his role in Syria after the conflict is over.
Al-Golani’s self-image has been damaged, according to activist Asim Zedan, whose organization monitors HTS’s abuses.
Al-Golani now views himself as the leader of state, Zedan claimed, having established the salvation government and many ministries.
The death toll from the China earthquake rises to 149, with two still missing after a week. At least 149 people were murdered in a rural location in the northern part of China by one of the most severe earthquakes that China has seen in recent years, according to official media. Two people are still missing following the magnitude-6.2 earthquake a week ago.
The earthquake’s epicenter was located in an area encompassing both the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai. The Hui people of China, a relatively small ethnic minority that stands out for having a distinctive Muslim identity, reside in significant numbers in this area.
The quake’s violent vengeance was felt most strongly in Gansu. Almost 200,000 dwellings were destroyed, and 15,000 homes were on the verge of collapsing, according to reports from Chinese official media. In the province, the severe earthquakes caused 145,000 people to be displaced, and as of December 22, 117 people had been killed and 781 others had been injured.
According to official media, as of 11 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Sunday, 32 people had perished, and two more were still missing in the region of Qinghai, which is located west of Gansu.
The local authorities have determined that the shallowness of the earthquake is responsible for the severity of the damage. The thrust-type rupture during the earthquake and the comparatively soft sedimentary rock in the area contributed to the shakes’ significantly increased destructive power.
Most of the destroyed residences were constructed at an earlier age and were constructed out of brick-wood or earth-wood buildings. Because their load-bearing walls were created from the earth, the local authorities have stated they have inadequate defenses against earthquakes.
In addition, they stated that the tragedy has brought to light the critical need to increase the earthquake resilience of dwellings in rural areas.
Those provinces that are located on the northeastern limit of the tectonically active Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, which includes the majority of Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu, and sections of Xinjiang, as well as the rocky highlands in the western part of Sichuan, are prone to experiencing earthquakes.
In the province of Sichuan, a magnitude-6.6 earthquake occurred ten years ago, resulting in the injuries of over 6,700 people and the deaths of over 160 others. Two thousand seven hundred people lost their lives as a result of the devastating earthquake that struck Yushu, which is primarily Tibetan, in 2010.
As the tab for Britain’s controversial proposal to relocate asylum seekers to the East African nation continues to increase, the United Kingdom paid Rwanda an extra 100 million pounds ($126 million) in April. This was in addition to the 140 million pounds it had already provided Rwanda.
Even though the Rwanda project is at the core of the policy that British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is employing to discourage illegal immigration, there have been no individuals sent to Rwanda as of yet due to legal challenges that have taken place since the initiative was introduced in 2022.
After Sunak’s immigration minister resigned this week, the polarizing policy is now regarded as a danger to Sunak’s leadership, which is anticipated to be challenged in the election that will take place the following year.
According to a letter that the British Ministry of the Interior issued on Thursday, the United Kingdom plans to give Rwanda fifty million pounds in addition to the 240 million pounds it has already provided to the East African nation.
The opposition Labour Party criticized the disclosures regarding the rising cost of a scheme that legal experts warned could collapse. Some parliamentarians within Sunak’s party are also expected to express their disapproval of the idea.
A statement by Yvette Cooper, the shadow interior minister for the Labour Party, on social networking site X, said, “Britain cannot afford more of this costly Tory chaos and farce.”
On Friday, however, the newly appointed minister for legal migration, Tom Pursglove, explained what he called the “investment” of 240 million pounds. He stated that once the Rwanda policy was operational, it would reduce the money spent on hosting asylum-seekers in the United Kingdom.
“When you consider that we are unacceptably spending 8 million pounds a day in the asylum system at the moment, it is a key part of our strategy to bring those costs down,” Pursglove explained to Sky News.
Pursglove stated that the money donated to Rwanda would assist in the country’s economic growth and help get the asylum relationship with the United Kingdom up and running.
There was no connection between the money sent to Rwanda and the treaty that the two nations signed on Tuesday, according to the letter from the Ministry of the Interior.
The treaty aims to respond to a ruling by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, which stated that the deportation plan would contravene local laws based on international human rights standards.
“The Government of Rwanda did not ask for any payment in order for a Treaty to be signed, nor was any offered,” according to the correspondence.
After Robert Jenrick resigned from his position as immigration minister on Wednesday, Sunak made a plea to fellow Conservative parliamentarians on Thursday to come together in support of his Rwanda proposal. He stated that the emergency legislation the government had drafted to get the scheme up and running did not go far enough.
On Tuesday, the Minister of the Interior of the United Kingdom, James Cleverly, came to Rwanda to sign a new treaty. This was done to circumvent a court judgment that blocked the government’s contentious policy of transferring asylum seekers to the East African nation.
The Rwandan plan is at the core of the government’s attempt to reduce migration, and it is being closely monitored by other nations who are considered to be considering policies that are comparable to Rwanda’s.
In a decision handed down a month ago, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom stated that such a move would violate international human rights norms embedded in domestic legislation.
Following the decision, the United Kingdom has been making efforts to revise its agreement with Rwanda to incorporate a legally binding treaty that guarantees Rwanda would not remove asylum seekers brought there by the United Kingdom. This is one of the primary concerns of the court.
Several attorneys and charitable organizations have said that it is highly improbable that deportation flights will begin before the election. With a lead of more than ten percentage points in the polls, the opposition Labour Party intends to abandon the Rwanda policy if it is victorious.
A meeting between Cleverly, who arrived in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, on Tuesday morning, and Vincent Biruta, the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, is scheduled to take place to sign the agreement.
“Rwanda cares deeply about the rights of refugees, and I look forward to meeting with counterparts to sign this agreement and further discuss how we work together to tackle the global challenge of illegal migration,” Cleverly says.
The United Kingdom aims to transfer thousands of asylum seekers who came to its beaches without authorization to Rwanda under the plan that was agreed upon the previous year. This discourages migrants from crossing the Channel from Europe in tiny boats.
In exchange, Rwanda has been given an initial payment of 140 million pounds, equivalent to 180 million dollars, along with the promise of additional funds to cover the costs of housing and medical treatment for any deported persons.
THE PRESSURE
A great deal of pressure is being put on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to reduce net migration, which reached a record high of 745 thousand people in the previous year, with the vast majority of migrants entering through legal channels.
“Stop the boats” is one of the five goals that Sunak has set for his government. The influx of asylum seekers who pay people smugglers for their crossings of the Channel, which frequently take place in boats that are overloaded and not seaworthy, is one of the aims that Sunak has set.
The Supreme Court determined that the Rwanda plan should not be implemented because there was a possibility that refugees who were deported would have their claims incorrectly evaluated or that they would be sent back to their country of origin to suffer persecution.
In the latter part of this week, it is anticipated that the new treaty will be followed by the release of legislation declaring Rwanda a so-called safe nation. This law is intended to prevent legal challenges against the planned deportation flights.
Despite this, this will probably result in a fresh set of political and legal difficulties.
An immigration attorney at Harbottle & Lewis named Sarah Gogan stated that the government’s policy will be challenged due to Rwanda’s history of violations of human rights provisions.
“Rwanda is an unsafe country and this is not a quick fix,” added the politician. “You cannot in a matter of weeks or months reform a country and turn it into one with an impartial judiciary and administrative culture.”
Another “gimmick” was what Yvette Cooper, the spokesperson for the Labour Party’s home affairs department, called the most recent measures proposed by the administration.
Whether or not to design the law in a way that would avoid subsequent legal challenges is still up for debate by the administration.
Several members of the Conservative Party in parliament are putting pressure on the government to incorporate a “notwithstanding” clause into Rwanda’s policy. This clause would disapprove the domestic and international human rights commitments of the United Kingdom regarding Rwanda.
However, some politicians within the ruling party, such as Robert Buckland, have stated that such a move would be “foolish” and undermine the Good Friday Agreement, which is primarily responsible for ending three decades of carnage in Northern Ireland. This is because the European Convention on Human Rights supports the treaty.
Despair in Gaza as fighting intensifies despite Israel’s promise to scale back the war.
The Maldives upgrades ties with China amid pivot from India.
Ecuador’s president says the country is at war as gangs hold prison staff hostage.
Despair in Gaza as fighting intensifies despite Israel’s promise to scale back the war.
The Maldives upgrades ties with China amid pivot from India.
