Iraqis Outraged By Visit Of Syrian Leader Jolani Over al-Qaeda Past

Via Middle East Eye

Safaa Rashid was barely an adult in 2005 when an explosion ripped through the Iraqi capital Baghdad, killing his 21-year-old cousin, a university student who was working part-time at an electrical goods shop in the city’s center. “A suicide bomber stormed the market and detonated his explosive belt, killing my cousin and dozens of innocent people in an instant,” said Rashid, now 38 and still living in Baghdad. “He was just at the beginning of his life.”

Safaa lost two other cousins that same year in blasts that were attributed to al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), the armed group that would evolve into ISI, the Islamic State in Iraq (later just Islamic State), and is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths in Iraq and abroad.

One of those who joined AQI’s campaign at the time was a young Syrian named Ahmed al-Sharaa, who later would reappear in his homeland under the name Abu Mohammed al-Jolani and last year successfully overthrew President Bashar al-Assad to become Syria’s new ruler.

Although Sharaa has since disavowed his time in al-Qaeda [in terms of public rhetoric at least], his possible presence at an Arab League summit in Baghdad next month has provoked outrage from victims of AQI and its successors, as well as dozens of MPs who are trying to prevent his attendance. “Jolani is the face of terrorism,” said Rashid.

“He must be held accountable – I lost three cousins to his group’s violence…how can someone like this be welcomed as if he were an honoured guest?”

‘Premature’ meeting?

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said last week that he had formally invited Sharaa to attend the upcoming summit, which is scheduled to be held in Baghdad on May 17. The two also met in Qatar last week for the first time since the overthrow of Assad.

Although the Iraqi government had been one of the few in the region to continuously maintain relations with Sharaa’s predecessor, Iraq like many other Arab states appears to be trying to integrate post-Assad Syria diplomatically, possibly hoping to end the instability unleashed by the country’s 13-year war.

But the extension of the invitation has outraged many. Iraqi media reported that at least 50 MPs from Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kataib Hezbollah – two Iran-backed armed political factions that provided military support to Assad against Sharaa and other Syrian opposition groups – have filed criminal complaints in Iraqi courts against the Syrian president.

Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council has yet to take any official action and previously issued a statement saying that several complaint documents circulating on social media were fake and invalid.

Nevertheless, it has led Asaib Ahl al-Haq’s leader, Qais al-Khazali, to brand Sharaa’s invite “premature”, warning there could be a diplomatic incident between the “brotherly nations” should he be arrested. “In light of this, and in accordance with the principle of separation of powers, the decisions of the Iraqi judiciary must be adhered to and respected by all,” he wrote on X.

Abu Ali al-Askari, a senior Kataib Hezbollah figure, meanwhile described Sharaa as a “convict”.

Change of attitude

Sharaa travelled from Damascus to Baghdad in 2003 to join al-Qaeda shortly before the US-led invasion that toppled President Saddam Hussein. Though he has denied being close to the group’s leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, other outlets have claimed he quickly rose through the ranks to a senior position.

During the insurgency against US-led forces in Iraq, AQI was responsible for numerous sectarian atrocities across the country, triggered by the group bombing al-Askari Shrine in Samarra on 22 February 2006.

Zarqawi had earlier declared all-out war on Iraqi Shias, “wherever they are in Iraq”. Sharaa has argued his time in AQI was more about gaining fighting experience and defending Iraqis than building a caliphate or imposing al-Qaeda’s harsh variant of Islamic law.

“There was a massive Arab and Islamic response to the American intervention,” he told The Rest Is Politics podcast. He added that during his time in a range of US-run facilities, including the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, his attitude towards the conflict changed and he began to fall out with other al-Qaeda members over their support for overt sectarianism.

Iraqi Telegram accounts linked to pro-Iran groups have posted documents they say further implicate Sharaa in AQI’s actions, though they also suggested Sharaa was released from an Iraqi prison for lack of evidence.

Former ISIS terrorist Jolani who is now president of Syria was released from prison just days before the first colour revolution protests in Syria (March 3, 2011.)

He was arrested on May 14, 2005, by U.S. occupation forces in Iraq and held at Camp Bucca.

The first “protests”… pic.twitter.com/7TBIVQuEVv

— Syrian Girl (@Partisangirl) April 18, 2025

The Islamic Dawa Party, which held the prime ministership during the bulk of the AQI and ISI insurgency, also warned against inviting Sharaa to Iraq. Though they did not mention the prime minister by name, they said that anyone invited to the Arab League conference should have a “spotless” legal record both at home and abroad.

In a statement on Sunday, they also drew comparisons with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the outstanding arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court over the war in Gaza.

“The same should be done in Iraq towards those who have committed heinous crimes against its people, whatever the excuses, out of respect for Iraqi blood and in loyalty to the martyrs who gave their lives for the nation’s dignity and honour,” said the party.

‘A significant step’

Although many of Syria’s neighbours have tried to rebuild links with the country following Assad’s defeat, much of the international community has continued to be wary, not least after the recent outbreak of sectarian violence on the country’s west coast.

The violence in Latakia, which erupted after attacks by Assad loyalists on pro-government forces, has seen widespread killings of hundreds of members of the Alawi religious minority by armed groups. Sharaa condemned the killings and has sought to calm tensions through dialogue, but the attacks have again raised the spectre of sectarian violence and drawn parallels with the Sunni-Shia bloodshed that devastated Iraq in the mid-2000s.

Not everyone has opposed diplomatic meetings with Sharaa. A number of MPs have emphasised the need for dialogue between the two countries after decades of violence.

Khamis al-Khanjar, an MP and head of the Azem Alliance, welcomed the meeting in Qatar between Sudani and Sharaa. “This meeting represents a significant step toward enhancing Arab cooperation and promoting the principles of dialogue and joint action to address current challenges, rebuild bridges of trust and integration among our peoples, and serve the security and stability of our region,” he wrote on social media.

But with the pain of decades of bloodshed still fresh in the mind of many in Iraq, and with AQI’s descendents still wreaking havoc in parts of the country, the visit is likely to trigger further outcry.

“Inviting Sharaa to visit Baghdad just returned painful memories for victims’ families,” said Rashid. “Many of whom are still waiting for justice nearly two decades after the worst years and al-Qaeda attacks post-2003.”