Who is Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the terrorist leader at the center of Assad’s downfall?

Islamist leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani, a lightning rod in Syria, has a long history of extremism despite recent calls for more moderate policies.

“Golani is a specially designated global terrorist,” Bill Roggio, managing editor of the Long War Journal, told Fox News Digital. “He was a member of al Qaeda… the US keeps him on the list for a reason.”

Roggio’s comments come after Islamist rebels led by Golani’s movement, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led attacks across Syria that led to the capture of the country’s capital, Damascus, and the overthrow of the regime of Bashar Assad, who fled the country. the country on Saturday as the rebels sealed off the city.

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Golani first became attracted to Jihadi thinking following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US, according to a Guardian report.

He left Syria to join al Qaeda in Iraq, but returned to his country in 2011 during the Assad regime’s uprising, eventually joining al Qaeda’s Ayman al-Zawahiri in 2013.

Golani would cut ties with al Qaeda in 2016 and lead a coalition between HTS and other Islamist groups in northwestern Syria in 2017, giving him control of an area that had been out of government control during the country’s long civil war.

The US State Department designated Geolani as a Specially Designated International Organization in May 2013, citing his leadership in numerous terrorist attacks across Syria that often targeted civilians.

Fighters enter Rashidin district on the outskirts of Aleppo on Nov. 29, 2024. (Bakr Alkasem/AFP via Getty Images)

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But the terrorist leader has tried to strike a moderate tone in recent years, a trend that continued as the rebels launched their offensive across Syria.

“No one has the right to wipe out another group. These sects have existed in this region for hundreds of years, and no one has the right to eliminate them,” Golani said about Syria’s religious minorities in an interview with CNN Friday.

But Roggio said there was little evidence that the moderate tone would continue as the rebels took control of Syria, and said Geloni was playing a good political game.

“He plays the middle game very well, but he is a global jihadist. He is a master of control,” Roggio said.

Rebels in northwestern Syria seized government military vehicles on the way to Kweris Airport in the eastern countryside of Aleppo on Dec. 2, 2024. (Rami Alsayed/NurPhoto via APRami Alsayed/NurPhoto via AP)

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While Roggio acknowledges that there are good reasons for Syrians to rejoice in the fall of Assad, concerns now turn to what comes next for people with long-term tolerance.

“It’s understandable that many Syrians are happy about the fall of the Assad regime, he was a monster,” Roggio said. “But I think they’re going to find that his replacement isn’t going to be much better.”