Abu Mohammad al-Jolani\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s 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 \u2013 his message for those who put him in power, those who might bring him down, and others who can keep him in power. <\/p>\n
It is no surprise that the Islamist rebel chose Damascus\u2019s venerated Umayyad Mosque \u2013 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\u2019s most ancient mosques \u2013 to deliver that message. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis victory, my brothers, is a victory for the entire Islamic nation,\u201d he told his tiny entourage, who stumbled behind him against the backdrop of the mosque\u2019s distinctive black and white stone splendor. <\/p>\n
It was a message to all those who had taken him to power, and propelled his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fighters at startling speed across Syria to oust President Bashir al-Assad. <\/p>\n
It was a message too to the newly liberated Syrians. \u201cThis victory, my brothers, by the grace of God Almighty (follows) the sacrifices of the martyrs, the widows, and the orphans. This victory, my brothers, has come through the suffering of those who endured imprisonment,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
In a country where the God you chose, and how you pray, can define your class, limit your aspirations and pit you against your neighbor, Jolani sent a very clear signal in the Umayyad Mosque. He is a Sunni Muslim, part of Syria\u2019s majority. Assad was an Alawite. There are Christians, Druze, Shia Muslims, Ismailis and more. <\/p>\n
Yet the words he chose appeared intended to break those old bounds. \u201cThis new triumph, my brothers, marks a new chapter in the history of the region, a history fraught with dangers (that left) Syria as a playground for Iranian ambitions, spreading sectarianism, stirring corruption,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Singling Iran out appears to be a message to Tehran\u2019s theocracy \u2013 that their meddling is over, their easy land access to their mega proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon is over, their support for Syrian Hezbollah is over, and gone too is the home they once had for Iran\u2019s weapons stockpiles. <\/p>\n
But it is a message Jolani will know is being heard in Tel Aviv and Washington, where he is considered to be a member of a proscribed terrorist organisation with a $10 million dollar bounty on his head. A message that says to them, \u2018your interests are understood in the new Syria,\u2019 and an understanding on his part that these are the powers capable of bringing him down. <\/p>\n
Speaking a few hours later, Biden said he had heard Jolani \u201csaying the right things,\u201d but insisted the rebel leader be judged by his actions. <\/p>\n
Jolani\u2019s message was also tuned for regional powers he\u2019ll need to keep onside, promising to clean shop. \u201cSyria is being purified,\u201d he said, referring to the country\u2019s regional reputation as a narco-state, saying Assad\u2019s Syria had \u201cbecome the world\u2019s leading source of Captagon,\u201d an amphetamine-type drug, and criminality through the region. <\/p>\n
Jolani\u2019s mosque speech was about arrival and survival. It\u2019s his actions, though, that will secure the latter. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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