Syrian rebel leader’s victory speech holds a message for Iran – and for Trump and Israel too
Analysis by Nic Robertson, CNN
Updated 11:17 PM EST, Sun December 8, 2024
01:55 - Source: CNN
Retired US colonel reacts to Syrian rebel leader's victory speech
CNN —
Abu Mohammad al-Jolani’s road to Damascus has been long. He has talked openly about his change along the way. From young al Qaeda fighter two decades ago, to rebel commander espousing sectarian tolerance.
It’s a journey along which he has had plenty of time to plan where and how he would mark his arrival, and to fine-tune his narrative – his message for those who put him in power, those who might bring him down, and others who can keep him in power.
It is no surprise that the Islamist rebel chose Damascus’s venerated Umayyad Mosque – not a TV studio, nor newly absented presidential palace, but a place of towering religious significance, which at 1,300 years old is one of the world’s most ancient mosques – to deliver that message.
Jolani has been at pains on his race to Damascus to make sure US President Joe Biden and even President-elect Donald Trump know his intent. It is no coincidence that he picked a US TV network, CNN, and not an Arab one, for a key interview in the days before he ousted Assad, claiming he had parted company from other jihadists because of their brutal tactics.
Speaking a few hours later, Biden said he had heard Jolani “saying the right things,” but insisted the rebel leader be judged by his actions.
Jolani’s message was also tuned for regional powers he’ll need to keep onside, promising to clean shop. “Syria is being purified,” he said, referring to the country’s regional reputation as a narco-state, saying Assad’s Syria had “become the world’s leading source of Captagon,” an amphetamine-type drug, and criminality through the region.
Jolani’s mosque speech was about arrival and survival. It’s his actions, though, that will secure the latter.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/12/08/middleeast/analysis-syria-rebel-leader-speech-iran-intl-latam
Comments