The de facto leader of Syria, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, who heads the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, stated on Wednesday that the country is exhausted by the ongoing war and is no longer a threat to its neighbors or to the West.
In an interview with the BBC in Damascus, Sharaa called for the lifting of sanctions imposed on Syria, arguing that they were originally aimed at the old regime.
"Now, after all that has happened, sanctions must be lifted because they were targeted at the old regime. The victim and the oppressor should not be treated in the same way," he said.
Sharaa, previously known by the alias Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, argued in the interview that HTS should be removed from the list of terrorist organizations, a designation it holds from the UN, US, EU, UK, and others, primarily due to its origins as a splinter group of Al-Qaeda, from which it separated in 2016.
Sharaa insisted that HTS is not a terrorist group.
"They did not target civilians or civilian areas," he said, adding that the group views itself as a victim of the Assad regime's crimes.
He also rejected any comparisons between Syria and Afghanistan, a country often cited as a model for a post-conflict Islamic state. Sharaa emphasized that the two countries are fundamentally different, with Syria having a distinct cultural and social fabric.
"Syria and Afghanistan are very different, with different traditions," he told the BBC. "Afghanistan was a tribal society. In Syria, there is a different mindset."
Sharaa also expressed his belief in the importance of education for women, citing the long-standing presence of universities in Syria’s rebel-held northwest.
"We've had universities in Idlib for more than eight years," Sharaa said, referring to the northwestern province that has been controlled by rebels since 2011. "I think the percentage of women in universities is more than 60%."
He stated that a "Syrian committee of legal experts" would be tasked with drafting a new constitution, and that any future ruler or president would be bound by the rule of law.
Earlier this week, Julani met with UN envoy Geir Pedersen. A statement by the rebels said the two discussed "the changes that have occurred on the political scene which make it necessary to update" a 2015 United Nations Security Council resolution "to suit the new reality".
The 2015 UN Security Council Resolution 2254, referenced by the rebel statement, outlined a roadmap for a political settlement in Syria and also included the designation of the Al-Nusra Front as a "terrorist" group.
Julani’s meeting with the UN envoy came a day after the rebel leader said that the new Syrian regime will operate according to Sharia Law.
Speaking in Damascus, Julani said that the regime's morality police will operate under the Minister of Internal Affairs and be under the supervision of religious clerics and mullahs.
The morality police's job will be to ensure that the public implements Sharia Law, and in doing so, it will prioritize the path of "dawah," proselytization and education, instead of operating through force.