Syrian Rebel Leader: Whatever The Way, The Goal Is To Overthrow The Assad Regime

Syrian rebel group leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani/PHOTO US State Department via Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - The leader of the Syrian rebel group Abu Mohammad al-Jolani emphasized the goal of the insurgent movement to seize cities to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

In an exclusive interview with CNN, Jolani believes the ambition of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) a group formed from a former Al Qaeda affiliate is nothing but ending the Assad regime. In his first interview with the media over the years, at an undisclosed location in Syria, Jolani spoke of plans to form a government based on institutions and councils elected by the people.

When we talk about the goal, the goal of revolution still overthrows this regime. It is our right to use all existing means to achieve that goal," said Jolani.

The seeds of the regime's defeat are always in it. Iran is trying to revive the regime, buy time, and then Russia is also trying to shore it up. But in reality, this regime is dead," said Jolani.

Since leaving their territory more than a week ago, the insurgent progress has been very fast, they took control of the country's second-largest city, Aleppo, before capturing the strategic city of Hama/Hamat.

This shock attack dealt a major blow to Assad and his supporters in Iran and Russia, as well as re-ignoring the civil war that has been neglected for years.

The strength of the Syrian opposition is decentralized and consists of different ideologies, although united by the same goal of overthrowing the Assad regime. However, the roots of HTS and Jolani in the extreme Islamic movement overshadowed his ambitions.

Despite Jolani's efforts to keep his new group away from Al Qaeda, the United States designated HTS as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2018 and awarded him 10 million dollars.