Je politician

President of Syria, since 29 January 2025

Born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to a Syrian Sunni Muslim family from the Golan Heights

Grew up in the capital, Damascus

Joined al-Qaeda in Iraq shortly before the 2003 invasion of Iraq and fought for three years in the Iraqi insurgency

American forces captured and imprisoned him from 2006 to 2011. His release coincided with the Syrian Revolution against the Ba'athist dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad

Created the al-Nusra Front in 2012 with the support of al-Qaeda to fight the Assad regime in the Syrian civil war

As emir of the al-Nusra Front, al-Sharaa built a stronghold in the northwestern Idlib Governorate