Al-Jolani: I have not killed any innocent person/ we made progress in negotiations with Israel

According to RCO News Agency, “Abu Mohammad al-Jolani” (Ahmed al-Shar’a), the self-proclaimed leader of Syria, spoke in an interview about his plan to cooperate with the Americans with whom he was once at war.

According to the Washington Post, on Monday, al-Jolani became the first head of government in Syria to visit the White House and meet with US President Donald Trump.

In a one-hour interview with this American newspaper, which he conducted through a translator, he discussed his views on the reconstruction of Syria’s relations with the United States, negotiations with the Zionist regime, sectarian violence in Syria, and how he turned from a leader of terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda to the head of a self-proclaimed government in Syria, and in this capacity he met with the President of the United States in Washington.

Sanctions and relations with the United States

Regarding his recent meetings with Trump and members of the United States Congress, he stated: “The most important mission is to restore Syria’s relations with the United States, because there have not been very good relations between them in the last 100 years. We have been looking for the common interests of America and Syria and we realized that we have many common interests that we can strengthen, such as security interests and economic interests. “Syria’s stability will affect the entire region, and its instability will also affect the entire region.”

Noting that “Syria’s stability depends on the economic issue and the economic development of Syria depends on the lifting of sanctions”, he said: “The discussion on this issue has been going on for a few months now, and I believe we have reached good results.” But we are still waiting for the final decision.”

In response to a question about the fate of “Austin Tice”, a journalist and former American soldier who went missing in Syria, Al-Jolani said: “When we entered Damascus, we were able to free an American citizen from prisons and immediately handed him over to the American authorities. We have established a missing persons commission and our focus is on missing people who are US citizens and we are coordinating with the US authorities. I met with the families of some of the missing, including Austin Tice’s mother. She is a great woman and I arranged for her to meet my mother because my mother had a similar experience.

“Once I was missing for seven years and everyone thought I was dead except my mother, who strongly believed that one day I would return.”

Jolani activities in Syria and Iraq

In the continuation of this interview, the head of the self-proclaimed government of Syria was faced with the question of the Washington Post: “What do you say to an ordinary American citizen who, while talking to his representative in Congress, asks about the reason for the lifting of sanctions against a man fighting against the United States?” In response, Al-Jolani claimed: “First of all, fighting is not a shameful thing if it is done for honorable purposes, especially if you are defending your own land and people who are suffering from injustice.” I think this is a good thing and the perpetrators of such a battle should be praised. I have fought in many wars but I have never caused the death of an innocent person.

Al-Jolani added: “When someone goes to war, he must have a strong moral background. “Our region was greatly influenced by Western and American policies, and today we see that many Americans agree with us that some of these policies were wrong and caused many pointless wars.”

Sectarian violence and minorities in Syria

Al-Jolani also claimed about critics’ statements that he did not do enough to reduce sectarian violence in Syria and did not prevent attacks against minorities: “Syria has just come out of a severe war and has lived under a dictatorship and a strict government that controlled the country for 60 years. “We are now experiencing a transition period, and in the transition period some situations, conditions and laws are different from stable countries.”

Comparing the Syrian conflict with the US civil war, he said: “For example, in relation to the civil war in the United States, was the situation stable a year after the end of that war? Or did the instability continue for many years after the war and was too long? We are in the stage of rebuilding the government and restoring and rebuilding the law. But I am not saying that there are no problems in Syria. This is not the end of the story.”

He continued: “There are some groups with vested interests that want independence or autonomy. Some of them want to find justification for their interests, so they use their religion or belief as an umbrella. They talk about an existential threat to their religion or belief. In Syria, we have been living in coexistence with different groups, different religious groups, for 1400 years. “We still exist and we still have that diversity.”

Al-Jolani said about the issue of fighting with the ISIS terrorist group: “We were at war with ISIS for 10 years and we did it without coordination with the Western force or any other country. Syria today is able to fulfill this responsibility. The fragmentation of Syria or the existence of armed forces that are not controlled by the government provides the best environment for ISIS to flourish. I believe that the best solution is for the American forces present in Syria to supervise the integration of the militia group “Syrian Democratic Forces” (SDF) into the security forces of the central government. The duty of protecting Syrian territory will be the responsibility of the government.

Israel and Syria

Al-Jolani, who was the leader of “Tahrir al-Sham”, in response to a question about the aggression of the Zionist regime against Syria and what is his plan for these aggressions, said: “Syria went to war with Israel 50 years ago. Then, in 1974, a cease-fire agreement was concluded. This agreement lasted for 50 years. But when the government of Bashar al-Assad fell, Israel canceled this agreement. They expanded their presence in Syria, expelled the UN peacekeeping mission and occupied new territories. They have carried out more than 1,000 airstrikes in Syria since December 8, including bombing the presidential palace and the defense ministry building. But since we want to rebuild Syria, we did not respond to these aggressions.”

Saying that Israel’s “occupational and aggressive actions in Syria are not based on security concerns but on the basis of developmentalist ambitions”, Al-Shara claimed: “Israel has always claimed to have concerns about Syria because it is afraid of the threats posed by Iranian militias and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.” “We were the ones who expelled these forces from Syria.”

Emphasizing that he has entered into direct negotiations with the Zionist regime and has made good progress towards reaching an agreement, he said: “But in order to reach a final agreement, Israel must retreat to the borders before December 8.”

Al-Jolani continued: “The United States of America is with us in these negotiations and many international parties support our point of view. “Today we found out that Trump also supports our point of view and will continue to press for a solution as soon as possible.”

When asked if Syria would agree to the military disarmament of the southern Damascus area, the self-proclaimed president of Syria said: “It is difficult to talk about the complete disarmament of an area because if there is chaos, who will protect it? If this demilitarized zone is used by some parties as a platform to attack Israel, who will be responsible? And finally, it is Syrian territory, and Syria should have the freedom to act on its territory. Israel occupied the Golan Heights to protect Israel and now they are imposing conditions in southern Syria to protect the Golan Heights. After a few years, maybe they will occupy central Syria to protect southern Syria. “They will reach Munich if they continue like this.”

Relations with Russia

Regarding the relations with Russia and the asylum of Bashar Assad, the former president of Syria, and whether he demanded his return, Al-Jolani also said: “We were at war with Russia for 10 years and we had a hard war. They announced several times that they had killed me. Now we need Russia because it is a permanent member of the UN Security Council. We need their vote to be on our side in some issues and we have strategic interests with them. We do not want to push Russia to choose alternatives or other options in dealing with Syria. The issue of Bashar al-Assad is problematic for Russia and our relations with them, and we are still at the beginning of the journey. “Our right as Syrians to demand justice for Bashar al-Assad is reserved.”

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