The man behind the ouster of Bashar al-Assad has changed his name, his clothes and his brand from global jihadist to nationalist Islamist but mass graves and torture lurk in the background.
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In Beirut, Hani Alagbar was beaming with joy and packing his bags on Sunday morning, soon after Bashar al-Assad’s government was toppled by former al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
He had moved to Lebanon in 2012 at the height of the Syrian uprising and hasn’t been home since, not even to attend his father’s funeral. All these years, he had worried he might be randomly arrested by the regime.
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Original URL: https://www.afr.com/world/middle-east/have-syrians-fought-just-to-replace-assad-with-an-extremist-20241211-p5kxnu
