The Islamist militia HTS (Hay't Tahrir al-Sham≈Committee for the Liberation of Syria) has toppled the dictatorial Assad regime. Its leader, 42-year-old Ahmed al-Sharaa, better known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Julani, started his career under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, head of ISIS.

This extremist jihadist background is worrisome, but al-Julani has proven to be a pragmatist. How far will this pragmatism go, however? Orwa Ajjoub, a PhD candidate at Malmö University, where he researches Sunni jihadi rhetoric, was kind enough to share his insights on al-Julani and HTS with us on Kalam Podcast.

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