HAY’AT TAHRIR AL-SHAM TO RELEASE ARRESTED AL-QAEDA MEMBERS

On December 2, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) announced that it has formed a Sharia committee from six Sheikhs that will work to solve the problems between HTS and al-Qaeda members arrested by the HTS leadership on November 27.

According to the official HTS statement, the committee will release all Al-Qaeda leaders after guarantying that the both sides will not work against each other anymore.

Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham To Release Arrested Al-Qaeda Members

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri had accused HTS and its leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani of betraying their oath of allegiance (bayat) to al-Qaeda in an official 35-minute audio message on November 28. Al-Zawahiri also revealed that al-Qaeda didn’t release HTS from its allegiance to it yet.

When HTS arrested al-Qaeda members, many Syrian activists warned that HTS’s only goal is to distance from al-Qaeda. This may help the terrorist group to get the support from the Western block as the main “opposition” power. Experts also doubted that the HTS leadership could dare to take serious measures against al-Qaeda influence within HTS itself, and in Idlib governorate in general.

Earlier on December 2, several HTS fighters and local commanders released an official statement criticizing the HTS move and asking it to release al-Qaeda members immediately.

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