Leading Jabhat Fateh al-Sham’s New Coalition in Syria: Who Is Hashim al-Sheikh?

Leading Jabhat Fateh al-Sham’s New Coalition in Syria: Who Is Hashim al-Sheikh?

On January 28, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS) — the Jabhat al-Nusrah successor group formed in July 2016, which now claims that it is no longer al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria — announced, along with other groups, the formation of a new coalition called Hai’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, The Levant Liberation Commission). The leader of the new coalition is Hashim al-Sheikh (a.k.a. Abu Jaber al-Sheikh), who stepped down from a leading position in another large rebel group, Ahrar al-Sham (AS), to lead the new organization (zamanalwasl.net, January 28).

In addition to JFS, HTS includes four other rebel groups: Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zanki, Liwaa al-Haq, Ansar al-Din and Jaish al-Synnah (al-Jazeera, February 9; Twitter, January 28). While most of the previous attempts to unify Syrian rebel groups have been about coordination in the field or alliances of still distinct groups, HTS, according to its member groups and as stated by al-Sheikh, is the result of merging all five groups into one new organization with the aim of leading all of Syria (YouTube, February 9).

Background

Hashim al-Sheikh was born and raised in the small town of Maskanah, in Syria’s eastern Aleppo province. After the U.S.-led invasion of neighboring Iraq in 2003, al-Sheikh became very active in the pro-insurgency movement. He worked in recruiting, receiving and trafficking foreign fighters who were joining the insurgency in Iraq as Syria became the gateway for jihadists who wanted to go to Iraq. Reports suggest that he also fought in Iraq himself. In 2005, al-Sheikh was arrested by the Syrian government and sentenced to eight years in prison (Orient News, September 14, 2014).

In 2011, al-Sheikh was released after a controversial amnesty given by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The amnesty led to the release of many prominent jihadists who then became very active in leading rebel groups (al-Arabiya, May 31, 2011). While al-Shiekh and other freed Islamic fundamentalists made the armed opposition stronger, their association with the opposition helped the al-Assad regime build its narrative that the Syrian conflict was a battle between a secular regime and a jihadist terrorist opposition.

Early Activity

After his release, al-Sheikh formed Katiba Mus’ab Bin Omair (Mus’ab Bin Omair battalion), an armed group named after one of the Prophet Muhammad’s disciples who died young while fighting as the standard bearer under the command of the Prophet in one of Islam’s early battles. The group later merged with Ahrar al-Sham (AS), where al-Sheikh advanced to become one of its most important leaders (Orient News, September 14, 2014).

Al-Sheikh has many qualities that made him attractive to JFS. Chiefly among them is al-Sheikh’s established desire to unify the rebel groups, a long standing demand by opposition supporters. Al-Sheikh has been active in pursuing this goal. After leading his local group to merge into AS, he then supported AS joining the Islamic Front in 2013 (al-Jazeera, November 22, 2014). After AS suffered a major blow with the death of its leader Hassan Abboud and several other top leaders in a 2014 bombing, al-Sheikh stepped in to lead the group  in order to maintain its position in the conflict in Aleppo and across Syria. However, when his term as leader ended, he handed over power to a new leader and did not seek to extend his leadership. This was a rare gesture in the rebel environment, where rivalry over positions and group and personal interests is endemic (arabi21.com, September 12, 2015).

Although perceived as the leader of the hardline wing of AS and accused of being al-Nusrah sympathizer, al-Sheikh was previously critical of al-Nusrah, which he considered a liability. In an interview, al-Sheikh said the group’s radical interpretation of Islam and Sharia and its ties with al-Qaeda “…will [be] used as a pretext to attack the Syrian people under the name of fighting terrorism” (al-Jazeera, April 17, 2015). Before al-Nusrah rebranded as JFS, it would have been very difficult for al-Sheikh to reconcile his established views in order join with HTS.

Battling Islamic State

Regarding Islamic State (IS), al-Sheikh is very clear in his denunciation of the group, which has been behind the killings of some his closest comrades. Al-Sheikh was one of the first rebel leaders to fight against IS when he was a local field commander of AS. He then continued the fight against IS while leading AS. Al-Sheikh refers to them in a derogatory manner as al-Baghdadi’s group, saying “some of them are Khwarij (Outlaws of Islam), extremists, opportunists, naive people, and some work for the intelligence services” (al-Jazeera, April 17, 2015).

On the other hand, IS has harshly criticized HTS. In a video released days after the formation of HTS, IS bashed JFS for cooperating with groups allegedly backed by the United States to fight IS. Such groups were previously condemned by JFS. IS sees JFS as a serious threat to its position in Syria, as they vie for the same constituency of jihadist supporters. IS clearly does not accept HTS as having replaced JFS, but rather as an expansion of JFS by attracting al-Sheikh — and others who have a history of fighting IS — to its side (YouTube, January 30).

It did not take long for al-Sheikh and HTS to confront an IS-linked group. In early February, fighting broke out in Idlib and Hama provinces between HTS and Liwa al-Aqsa’a, which has extremist views and links with IS (almodon.com, February 14).

Criticism From Moderates

More moderate rebels have also criticized al-Sheikh for joining HTS. Supporters of AS and other moderate groups accused al-Sheikh of having always been pro- al-Nusrah. These critics pointed out that HTS will be dominated by JFS leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani, who they named as the group’s field commander (Twitter, January 28; Twitter).

Despite his detractors, al-Sheikh’s move to lead HTS is consistent with his established goal of unifying the Islamist rebel forces. Al-Sheikh has been behind several attempts to unite the forces of the rebel groups. His most recent, and most prominent, attempt was his command of the Quat Halab al-Muwahada (Aleppo Unified Force). The force was announced in 2016, with the aim of preventing Aleppo city from falling to the regime (Rai al-Youm, February 16, 2016). Al-Sheikh and the Aleppo United Force did not succeed in that attempt, however, and the city fell in December (al-Watan, December 24, 2016).

Conclusion

Al-Sheikh now heads one of the two largest rebel alliances; the second is led by his old group, AS (al-Arabiya, January 26). Accordingly, his first move as HTS commander was to declare a ceasefire between the two groups (Jisr TV, January 28).

Unlike al-Nusra’s JFS, HTS enjoys significantly wider support, with the merging of powerful groups, the endorsement of key clerics and a clear political agenda that rejects any negotiations with the regime.  By establishing al-Sheikh as its leaders, HTS took a significant step toward establishing a support base much broader than only those groups who share JFS’ global agenda. Al-Sheikh’s relationship with JFS leader al-Julani will be significant in the future of an important subset within the Syrian rebels. In this sense, al-Sheikh’s appeal to his old group and beyond will be decisive. Other rebels involved in the negotiations will eventually have to decide whether to negotiate with al-Sheikh or fight against him and IS simultaneously.