The leader of the new administration in Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, nicknamed “Abu Muhammad al-Julani”, caused a stir on social media when he received the first Iraqi delegation in Damascus after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime .
Activists on social media commented on the reasons for the presence of a gun under the jacket of the official suit he was wearing in the photo published by the official Syrian News Agency, during the reception of Hamid Al-Shatri, the head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, the envoy of the Iraqi Prime Minister .
Bloggers’ opinions varied, between those who described the matter as normal since he was a military commander, and those who linked it to fears of the upcoming Iraqi delegation .
Earlier, informed sources said that “Al-Sharaa, while he was in Iraq and was in Al-Qaeda, was arrested by the American side between 2007-2008, but after that he was released by the Americans themselves, and the Iraqi side had no involvement, and no ruling was issued against him by the Iraqi judiciary at the time .”
The sources stated: “However, after detainees confessed to various terrorist charges against Al-Julani, a subsequent arrest warrant was issued against him years ago, without a judicial ruling .”
An informed government source revealed on Thursday the objectives of the visit of the head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, Hamid Al-Shatri, to Damascus and his meeting with the new Syrian administration there .
The source said, “The visit of the head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, Hamid al-Shatri, to Damascus and his meeting with the new Syrian administration aims to confirm the Iraqi position of non-interference in Syria’s internal affairs, and to confirm that the Iraqi government will not allow the Iraqi armed factions to interfere in Syria in the future, in exchange for the armed groups not moving towards Iraq and controlling the borders well from within the Syrian interior .”
