What We Know About Syria's 'Most Important' Figure

It remains unclear who will be the next leader of Syria now that Bashar al-Assad is gone, but one man is clearly positioning himself for the role: Abu Mohammed al-Golani, leader of the main military faction behind the push to oust Assad. However, in a move that speaks volumes about his desire to present a more moderate image, al-Golani has shed that military nom-de-guerre and is now going by his given name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, reports Reuters. Coverage:

• "By far, he's the most important player on the ground in Syria," Jerome Drevon, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, tells the New York Times. The 42-year-old al-Sharaa runs Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, a militant group once affiliated with al-Qaeda before a split several years ago.

• His shift: When al-Sharaa gave his first interviews a decade ago, he did so in full military garb, notes the AP. Over the years, he has switched to a suit and tie and begun calling for tolerance of different religious beliefs. It's a big departure from the days when he called for Syria to be ruled by sharia law. "He's retooled, he's refashioned, made new allies, and come with his own charm offensive," another regional expert tells Reuters.
• Bio, US view: Al-Sharaa was born in Saudi Arabia, but his parents were Syrian exiles, and the family returned there in the 1980s. He went across the border to Iraq in 2003 to fight with al-Qaeda against the US, reports Al Jazeera. He spent about five years in a US military prison before returning to Syria. The US still considers him a terrorist—and still has a $10 million bounty on his head. The US also considers HTS a terrorist organization.
• The question: Analysts are watching to see if al-Sharaa will continue to espouse—and perhaps enact—more moderate policies amid Syria's current leadership void. "In a way, this is his Zelensky moment," says analyst Drevon, referring to the leader of Ukraine. "Zelensky was criticized before the war in Ukraine, and then he became a statesman. The question is can (al-Sharaa) make the same transformation."

(More Syria stories.)