With a short beard, equal hair, a well-groomed mustache and a modern jacket, the leader of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham “formerly Al-Nusra Front” in Syria, Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, appeared next to a sign reading “In the presence of the President of the Syrian Salvation Government, the first popular government project was opened in the liberated areas.. Aleppo Road – The Gate of Love.”
Al-Julani’s image with “Modern View” aroused the ridicule of followers on the communication sites, who described him as “a new body for the authority.”
And last February, the US Department of Justice published on social media a picture of the leader of “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham” Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, wearing an official suit.
10 million on his head
The Ministry of Justice’s publication of Al-Julani’s photo at the time came as a reminder of a financial reward of 10 million US dollars that it had offered to anyone providing information about him.
“You can wear a nice suit, handsome, but you remain a terrorist,” the ministry wrote on its “Reward for Justice” page.
The ministry called for sending any information about Al-Julani to obtain the reward, via the “Telegram”, “Signal” or “WhatsApp” applications.
While the picture of Al-Julani in the official suit came from the account of the American journalist Martin Smith, who was on a three-year visit to Idlib, during which he met Al-Julani.
Jolani
change skin
It is noteworthy that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, headed by al-Julani, had sought Western acceptance, as it changed its name from “Jabhat al-Nusra” to “Fatah al-Sham”, declaring that it was no longer linked to al-Qaeda.
It is noteworthy that the organization intends to change its skin, as the past years have witnessed major transformations with regard to the organizational form of the militants affiliated with al-Julani, which demonstrated the extent of his pragmatism.
Even the name of the extremist formation changed from “Jabhat al-Nusra”, then “Jabhat Fateh al-Sham” to “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham”, various names taken by the group led by al-Julani in an attempt to have a share in the Syrian cake.