THE TERRORIST WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD

Former insurgent-turned-president navigates shifting alliances while confronting Syria’s deepening internal crises.

- JOHN DOBSON

Ahmed al-Sharaa with Donald Trump

In the swirling turbulence of the Middle East’s longest-running conflict, the figure of Ahmed al-Sharaa stands out as one of the most dramatic transformations in recent history.

Born in Riyadh in 1982, al-Sharaa would later emerge as the leader of a rebel insurgency and, in a lightening campaign in December 2024, claim the presidency of Syria following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Last Monday he was a guest of President Donald Trump in the White House, the first ever visit by a Syrian president to Washington. Only days earlier, al-Sharaa was officially regarded by America as a “specially designated global terrorist”!

Al-Sharaa’s early years are shrouded in the secretive milieu of jihadist networks. According to his biography, he spent time fighting in Iraq as a member of the affiliate group of al-Qaeda, then returned to Syria as the state unspooled into civil war. In 2016, he publicly severed formal ties with Al-Qaeda by re-branding his group and shifting towards a more self-styled governance role. From 2017 onwards, al-Sharaa directed the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and oversaw its consolidation of power in northwestern Syria, particularly the Idlib region. Under his watch, HTS established a parallel administration in the form of the Syrian Salvation Government that delivered public services, issued identity cards, and collected taxes, activities once the exclusive domain of the state.