How a Syrian Rebel Went From an American Jail to Seizing Aleppo
Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani boarded a bus in Damascus in March 2003, heading across the desert to Baghdad with fellow volunteers eager to repel the looming American invasion of Iraq.
When he returned home in 2011, after a five-year stint in an American-run prison camp in Iraq, it was as the emissary of Islamic State founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Jawlani arrived in Syria with bags full of cash, and a mission to take the extremist movement global.
Last week, 42-year-old Jawlani triumphantly entered Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city, as the leading commander of the Turkish-backed rebel force dominated by his group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Unexpected and swift, his victory marks one of the most dramatic moments in a Middle East that has had no shortage of drama.
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/who-is-syrian-rebel-leader-hts-jawlani-9b157eff
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