In 2023, a veteran American diplomat found himself in a surprisingly amiable conversation with a Syrian rebel commander, discussing their lives on opposing sides of two Mideast conflicts.
The commander, then known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, recalled his early days as a young jihadist, targeting mobile homes in Baghdad where the diplomat lived following the American invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The diplomat, Robert S. Ford, recounted closing the U.S. Embassy in Syria in 2012, during its civil war, fearing an attack from the commander’s Al Qaeda faction.
During their meeting, the Syrian rebel leader spoke of his grand ambition: to capture the capital and govern Syria – a vision Mr. Ford found almost fantastical at the time, he later told The New York Times.
Yet, last December, the commander turned that ambition into reality.
He spearheaded a stunning offensive that ultimately toppled dictator Bashar al-Assad, ascending to the presidency of Syria. He shed his military uniform for sharp suits and embraced his real name, Ahmed al-Shara, discarding his nom de guerre.
This Wednesday, Mr. al-Shara is poised to become the first Syrian leader to address the U.N. General Assembly in 58 years. This represents an astonishing reversal for a man still officially classified as a terrorist by both the United States and the United Nations.
“With time, we’ve observed that al-Shara is less of a rigid Islamist jihadist attempting to appear pragmatic, and more of an authoritarian aiming to establish a stable government,” Mr. Ford commented. “He is unequivocally a power-seeker.”
Insights gathered from over 70 individuals who observed or engaged with Mr. al-Shara throughout his ascent reveal an intelligent, ambitious, and adaptable figure. He masterfully employed cunning, charisma, diplomatic skill, and ruthlessness to navigate and survive some of the Middle East’s most perilous regions.
His early journey saw him align with terrorists, fighting the United States in Iraq and embracing the jihadist view of that conflict as a religious war.
Later, returning to his homeland, he founded the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda. Over the years, he skillfully rebranded himself as a moderate rebel leader to expand his influence and appeal.
These numerous transformations raise profound questions about his true convictions and his ultimate intentions for leading a nation emerging from the devastation of a 13-year civil war. Syria’s stability could be a critical factor in calming a turbulent region.
He has garnered support from the United States and other global powers, pursued peaceful relations with neighboring states, including Israel, and advocated for reconciliation among Syrians.
However, recent waves of sectarian violence have marred his reputation. Thousands have been killed in attacks that human rights organizations and the United Nations accuse his security forces of participating in.
Al-Shara has consolidated power within his inner circle, sparking concerns about whether his true aim is to establish a government truly representative of Syria’s diverse minority groups, or merely to become another powerful strongman.
During a meeting with a small group of reporters in Damascus last week, including journalists from The Times, he asserted that his past, regardless of how it was perceived, uniquely qualified him to achieve what no one else could: topple the Assad regime.
“Were those who judged us on our past mistaken? Or were we?” he posed.
An Unlikely Road to Jihad
Ahmed al-Shara was born in 1982 in Saudi Arabia to a middle-class Syrian family. They returned to their home in Damascus, the capital, during his childhood. His father was an economist, his mother a teacher, and while politics was discussed at home, there was no history of Islamist extremism within the family.
Neighbors remembered him as quiet and fond of reading.
In his teenage years, he adopted a long tunic and knitted cap, signs of his growing religious devotion, according to Maya Athem, a neighbor.
By age 20, he vanished from his neighborhood.
“He just disappeared,” Ms. Athem recounted. “His mother didn’t even know if he was alive or dead.”
He had crossed into Iraq just before the 2003 U.S. invasion.
There, he joined insurgents who would become the foundation of Al Qaeda in Iraq, though his direct combat involvement appears limited. An Iraqi security official recently revealed that Mr. al-Shara claimed U.S. forces arrested him in 2005 during an early attempt to plant roadside bombs targeting American troops.
Like many sources interviewed for this report, the official spoke anonymously due to diplomatic protocols or fears of reprisal.
The young man was detained in Mosul alongside other suspected insurgents, according to Muzahim al-Huwait, an Iraqi tribal leader who befriended him in prison. Mr. al-Huwait recalled a silent inmate who identified himself as an Iraqi student named Amjad Mudhafar, speaking fluent Arabic with a convincing Iraqi accent.
Mr. al-Huwait admits he almost forgot about the quiet prisoner until last year, when he appeared on television as Syria’s new leader.
“Now Amjad Mudhafar, my fellow detainee in Mosul, is the president of Syria,” Mr. al-Huwait exclaimed, still seemingly bewildered.
Al-Shara’s journey from a middle-class Damascene to a jihadist in Iraq marked his first major transformation. He successfully deceived many during his six years in Iraqi prisons; American and Iraqi authorities never discovered his Syrian nationality, as indicated by Iraqi records and the then-Iraqi justice minister, Hassan al-Shammari.
In 2011, Mr. al-Shammari stated that a review of his detention revealed no charges under his assumed name. Consequently, he was released on March 13, 2011, according to official records.
Mere days later, protests against the government, ignited by the Arab Spring uprisings, erupted in Syria, drawing Mr. al-Shara back to his homeland and sparking the civil war.
Bringing Holy War to Syria
In late 2011, Mr. al-Shara and a handful of companions secretly entered Syria, aiming to introduce a new jihadist element into the escalating civil war.
Before leaving Iraq, he sought out Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a former prison acquaintance who had become the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq. Al-Baghdadi reportedly provided al-Shara with approximately $50,000 to establish Al Qaeda’s presence in Syria.
His newly formed group, the Nusra Front, announced its arrival in early 2012 by deploying suicide bombers against security forces in Syria’s major cities, causing hundreds of casualties.
In an online statement claiming responsibility for two significant attacks, Mr. al-Shara, operating under his new nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, promised further assaults. Few at the time knew his true identity.
While most Syrian rebels initially viewed their struggle as a rebellion against a brutal dictatorship, the Nusra Front introduced brutal jihadist tactics, seeking to impose its strict interpretation of Islamic law.
However, a split occurred with his Iraqi benefactor in 2013, when Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi formed the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Mr. al-Shara steadfastly refused to merge the Nusra Front into ISIS.
ISIS embarked on what it considered a global holy war, launching attacks in Paris, Cairo, and other locations. Meanwhile, Mr. al-Shara pledged allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahri, the global leader of Al Qaeda, although the Nusra Front confined its operations to Syria.
“We do not aspire to govern the nation,” Mr. al-Shara declared in his inaugural television interview with al-Jazeera in 2013, his face and true identity still obscured. “Our aim is for God’s law to reign supreme.”
His forces established their base in Idlib Province, a deprived region in northwestern Syria. They systematically dismantled other rebel factions there, including some that had received support from Washington.
Human rights organizations and Syrian activists accused them of assassinating and detaining critics, while online videos depicted them executing women labeled as prostitutes. They were particularly harsh towards religious minorities, whose beliefs they deemed heretical.
They prohibited Idlib’s Christians from displaying crosses or ringing church bells, and both they and other rebel groups seized Christian homes and farmland.
Hanna Jallouf, a Roman Catholic priest in Idlib at the time, recounts being kidnapped by the Nusra Front in 2015 and held for 20 days until international outcry secured his release.
“They took everything,” he recollected. “You had no rights. You were worthless as a human being.”
A Shift From Extremism
Two years later, Father Jallouf received a visit in Idlib from two Muslim clerics who expressed a desire for reconciliation with local Christians. They informed him they had been sent by Mr. al-Shara. The priest presented them with evidence of seized properties, leading the fighters to begin returning them to their rightful owners.
In 2022, Mr. al-Shara personally apologized to Father Jallouf and other Christians, expressing hope for a new chapter. Much of the Christian community’s property has since been restored, stated Father Jallouf, now the bishop of Aleppo.
“This man is trustworthy,” he affirmed. “If he makes a promise, he fulfills it.”
Al-Shara’s reconciliation with Idlib’s Christian community was indicative of a broader shift away from extremism. His group ceased suicide bombings and began to redefine their struggle against the dictatorship in more nationalistic terms.
Crucially, Turkey played a significant role in guiding Mr. al-Shara along this new path, engaging with him early in the conflict, according to six officials and other informed sources.
Syria’s war proved a catastrophe for Turkey, displacing millions of refugees into its borders and creating a breeding ground for jihadists, including the Nusra Front, along its southern frontier.
By 2013, Turkish intelligence operatives had established contacts with Mr. al-Shara, as confirmed by two officials familiar with the situation.
In 2016, Mr. al-Shara publicly revealed his face in a video, declaring his group’s dissociation from Al Qaeda. The following year, he founded Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the primary force responsible for toppling Mr. al-Assad and now forming the bedrock of Syria’s security apparatus.
As government forces advanced, Mr. al-Assad began sending rebels routed from other regions of the country to Idlib, intensifying an already severe humanitarian crisis there. Turkish officials expressed concern that this dire situation would trigger further refugee flows into Turkey.
To stabilize the region, Turkey sought a Syrian partner, and Mr. al-Shara emerged as the most capable candidate, according to five individuals familiar with the matter. Consequently, Turkish intelligence escalated its support while simultaneously urging him to abandon extremist ideologies.
Over time, Mr. al-Shara leveraged his growing authority in Idlib to confront or contain extremists. Furthermore, elements within his group provided intelligence that assisted foreign agencies in their pursuit of Al Qaeda and ISIS figures, as confirmed by current and former officials.
He also capitalized on a truce around 2020 to establish a civilian administration and initiate dialogues with Western governments. However, these governments initially refused direct engagement, still considering him a terrorist.
He then adopted a different approach, inviting researchers and conflict-resolution experts to Idlib to witness his and his fighters’ transformation, and to explore avenues for shedding their terrorist designation.
Dareen Khalifa, a senior adviser at the International Crisis Group who met Mr. al-Shara during this period, noted, “They wanted the Americans to understand that they were no longer a threat, that they could serve as a valuable intermediary.”
These efforts successfully established new channels of communication.
Jonathan Powell, currently the British national security adviser, met with Mr. al-Shara. A group founded by Mr. Powell, Inter Mediate, arranged Mr. Ford’s 2023 trip to Syria, where he was surprised by Mr. al-Shara’s unwavering conviction that his forces would reach the capital.
“I simply thought he would never reach Damascus,” Mr. Ford reflected. “But it’s intriguing how even young jihadists may temper their zeal with age.”
Against All Odds
Weeks after the rebels swept into Damascus, an old acquaintance came to visit Mr. al-Shara, who was now Syria’s new leader.
Ezzat Alshabandar, an Iraqi politician who lived in Damascus during the 1980s and early 1990s, recalled his son being a childhood friend of Mr. al-Shara. When they reconnected last year, Mr. al-Shara reflected on his life’s journey, Alshabandar stated.
Al-Shara acknowledged his more extreme leanings in youth but asserted that his experiences had fostered moderation, Mr. Shahbandar recounted. He now believed he needed to be a “realistic Islamist” to effectively lead all of Syria.
Mr. Alshabandar believes Mr. al-Shara genuinely seeks to establish a civil state, but must proceed cautiously to avoid antagonizing the more extreme fighters who remained loyal through the civil war.
As Mr. al-Shara prepares to present his vision for Syria on the U.N. stage, other world leaders are striving to interpret this latest transformation.
Following a meeting with Mr. al-Shara in May, President Trump expressed confidence in his leadership and announced the removal of U.S. sanctions.
However, recent surges of sectarian violence in Syria have intensified doubts about Mr. al-Shara’s capacity to control his more radical elements. This ongoing unrest also complicates efforts to integrate large, minority-controlled regions under his authority.
Mr. Alshabandar stated that Mr. al-Shara’s most formidable challenge is preventing another civil war. He conveyed that he had cautioned Mr. al-Shara about the potential for extremists within his own security forces to undermine his leadership.
“He confided in me, ‘Perhaps I no longer control the very palace I inhabit,’” Mr. Shahbandar recalled.