West has nothing to fear from Syria, rebel leader whose group ousted Assad tells Sky News | World News

Sky News speaks to HTS leader in his first comments since capturing Syrian capital.

By Zein Jaafar and Celine al Khaldi in Damascus, Syria

The leader of the Syrian armed rebel group which swept the Assad regime from four decades of rule has told Sky News Western nations have nothing to fear from his victory.

Abu Mohammad al Jolani, who now asks to be called by his birth name Ahmed al Sharaa, told Sky News his group doesn’t seek further conflict and will bring stability back to Syria.

In an impromptu visit to the mosque he used to attend as a youngster in the suburbs of Damascus he said people were “exhausted” from years of war.

He was escorted by several armed men and cheered on by dozens of young supporters posing for selfies.

Inside the Imam al Shafi’i mosque in the neighbourhood of Mezzeh he spoke briefly about how Syria had been driven to devastation by the corruption and greed of the Assad family.

He praised the efforts of his fighters who, he claims, took charge of Syria without any foreign support or interference.

In a clear reference to previous Russian and Iranian support of the Assad regime he noted that all former “colonisers” had failed to control the country.

The HTS leader is a former member of Islamic State of Iraq and led Al Qaeda’s affiliate group in Syria before severing ties in 2016.

He is now trying to present himself as a more moderate Islamist leader but his group is designated by the UN, US, UK and other countries as a terrorist organisation.

His group’s rapid sweep across Syria has also aroused fears amongst other minorities in the country including Kurds, Allawites and Christians.

But Al Sharaa dismissed those concerns: “The source of our fears was from the Iranian militias, Hezbollah and the regime which committed the massacres we are seeing today. So their removal is the solution for Syria,” he said.