Why Should Al-Joulani and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Remain on Terrorism Lists?

28th February 2025

3 minutes read

Why Should Al-Joulani and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Remain on Terrorism Lists?

Following the takeover of most regions in Syria by the rebel faction alliance led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, there has been a “massive push” to determine whether the group’s name and its key leaders should be removed from U.S. and international terrorism lists, and how such a removal could be executed.

According to a study by the Washington Institute, UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen has called for a “rapid end to sanctions,” though it remains unclear whether his remarks included specific sanctions against Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. He had previously stated that the group could not govern Syria the same way it managed its former stronghold in Idlib, while noting that “there are some reassuring elements on the ground.”

The institute, in a report published on its website, stated that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham itself has never been officially designated as a terrorist organization. The group is merely the latest iteration of entities previously classified as terrorist due to their links to Al-Qaeda and ISIS.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham traces its roots back to July 2011, when Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, then leader of ISIS in Iraq—then known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq—sent Al-Joulani to lead the group’s expansion into Syria. This is the same Al-Joulani who later became the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, led the offensive that toppled Assad, adopted the name Ahmed Al-Shar’, and positioned himself at the forefront of current efforts to remove certain names from terrorism lists.

Regarding U.S. classifications and the delisting dilemma, the institute explains that the group now known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham was first designated as a terrorist entity in October 2004, when the U.S. State Department classified Jamaat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad—the predecessor of Al-Qaeda in Iraq—as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). That same month, the UN added Al-Qaeda in Iraq / Jamaat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad to its consolidated list of terrorist organizations. In December 2012, the U.S. government officially added Jabhat al-Nusra as an alias for Al-Qaeda in Iraq, updating its FTO list accordingly, while the U.S. Treasury also amended the SDGT list.

In May 2013, the U.S. State Department designated Al-Joulani (often spelled al-Joulani in U.S. documents) as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. Through its Rewards for Justice program, the U.S. offered up to $10 million for information on him, stating that he “remains the leader of Jabhat al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda’s affiliate, which forms the core of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.”

Today, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham remains designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., the UN, and several other countries and entities. Al-Joulani is still listed as a terrorist and remains subject to a $10 million bounty.

In the U.S., delisting an organization from the FTO list is relatively straightforward, as indicated on the State Department’s website. Since the list’s creation, 20 groups have been removed, including several that transitioned into governance.

Some observers argue that lifting these sanctions is crucial for giving post-Assad Syrian leadership a chance to build a different kind of government and country. While short-term exemptions and humanitarian aid measures are reasonable, broader delisting—whether for states, groups, or individuals—must be earned through merit, not granted as a favor.