The US has brought a resolution to the UN Security Council that would remove sanctions on Syrian leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. Jolani is a former ISIS and al-Qaeda commander who seized power in Syria last year. He is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump in the White House next week.
On Monday, Jolani, who now goes by Ahmed al-Sharaa, will meet with Trump in the White House. Washington hopes that the UNSC will remove sanctions on Jolani and Syrian Interior Minister Anas Hasan Khattab before that summit. Reuters reported on Wednesday that the US had submitted a draft resolution.
Jolani and Khattab are designated as terrorists by the UN for being members of al-Qaeda and ISIS. Both men fought against the US in the Iraq War before becoming members of ISIS, then al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate, the al-Nusra Front.
About a decade ago, Jolani rebranded al-Nusra as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and declared he was no longer loyal to al-Qaeda’s leadership. At the time, the State Department assessed that Jolani’s transformation was not sincere.
Last November, HTS overran the Syrian government led by Bashar al-Assad, and Jolani declared himself president. HTS’s victory came after years of receiving support from the US and its Middle East allies.
Jolani’s history of fighting against the US and leading al-Qaeda did not stop both President Trump and Joe Biden from embracing him after he overthrew Assad.
