Rebel leader Ahmed al-Shara told BBC, Syria is not a threat to the world

Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has said the country is tired of the war and is not a threat to its neighbors or the West.

In an interview with the BBC in Damascus he called for the lifting of sanctions on Syria.

Shaara had led the massive offensive that overthrew the regime of Bashar al-Assad less than two weeks earlier. He is the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the key group in the rebel coalition, and was previously known by the wartime pseudonym of Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.

He said that HTS should be removed from the list of terrorist organization. It has been designated as one by the United Nations, the US, the European Union and many others, including the UK, because it began as a splinter group of al-Qaeda, from which it split in 2016.

Shaara said that HTS is not a terrorist group.

“They did not target civilians or civilian areas,” he said. In fact, they considered themselves victims of the Assad regime’s crimes. He said that victims should not be treated like oppressors.

He denied that he wanted to turn Syria into a version of Afghanistan.

Shara said that countries are very different, there are different traditions. Afghanistan was a tribal society. There is a different mentality in Syria, he said. He said that he believes in women’s education.

Shara was relaxed during the interview, wearing civilian clothes, and tried to reassure those who believe that his group has not broken from its extremist past.

Many Syrians do not believe in him.

The actions of Syria’s new rulers over the next few months will indicate what kind of country they want Syria to be – and the way they want to rule it.