BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – Terrorism expert Peter Neumann has doubts that Syria will develop towards democracy and the rule of law after the change of power. The leader of the Islamist group Haiat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Ahmed al-Sharaa, who previously went by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Julani, broke away from the terrorist network Al-Qaeda years ago, said Neumann in the ZDF “heute journal”. “. However, his group is still Islamist with the aim of introducing a kind of theocracy in Syria.
“His fighters are not fighting for a liberal democracy. His fighters were fighting for a kind of Islamist regime,” said Neumann. A few years ago, his chief ideologist declared the Taliban in Afghanistan to be a role model. That doesn’t mean anything good for minorities and women.
The HTS leader should actually focus on reconciliation, emphasized Neumann, who teaches at King’s College in London. But he doubts that his fighters would take part. Neumann believes it is possible that there could then be opposition within his own movement.
According to Neumann, Israel is following developments in its neighboring country with a mixture of joy and concern. From an Israeli perspective, it is good that with the fall of ruler Bashar al-Assad, an Iranian ally and enemy is gone. But this is a “devil they have known”. Now there is an unknown quantity. Israel wants to ensure that no threat comes from here and has therefore probably destroyed 70 to 80 percent of the Syrian military installations./shy/DP/zb