Ahmed al-Sharaa, leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has emerged as Syria's new strongman, succeeding Bashar al-Assad's Alawite regime.
Once affiliated with al Qaeda, Sharaa, better known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, now advocates tolerance toward Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities and has instructed his fighters to avoid extrajudicial violence.
But not all fighters adopted the tolerance espoused by HTS's leader: the rhetoric of foreign Islamist factions – Chechens, Uighurs, Uzbeks, and French nationals – aligned with HTS, still mirrors that of al Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) group.
“Kafir” (“unbelievers”), “Rafida” (“rejecters of the true faith”) – these terms used by foreign factions have long been used to justify the persecution and killing of minorities, particularly Shias, in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
#syria #hts #minorities
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