
The Syrian Islamist leader whose group led the offensive that toppled President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime met with UN envoy Geir Pedersen on Sunday during his visit to Damascus, AFP reported, citing a statement released on the rebels' Telegram channel.
Abu Mohammed al-Julani, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), now using his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa, discussed with Pedersen "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 statement said.
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.
HTS was once a part of Al-Nusra Front, which is Syria’s Al-Qaeda branch. HTS is labeled a "terrorist" organization by many Western governments.
HTS later broke off from Al-Nusra Front and prioritized combatting Al-Qaeda as well as the Islamic State (ISIS), of which Julani was critical, describing its self-proclaimed caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq as "illegitimate".
On Tuesday, Pedersen acknowledged that the UN Security Council’s listing of Nusra as a terrorist organization was "obviously a complicating factor" in efforts to find a way forward. However, he emphasized the importance of viewing HTS within the context of Syria’s civil war.
The rebel statement on Sunday highlighted that Julani stressed "the need to focus on Syrian territorial unity, reconstruction and achieving economic development." He also emphasized "the importance of providing a safe environment for the return of refugees and providing economic and political support for this."
On Saturday, Julani 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.