Assaad al Chaïbani arrived in Doha on Sunday for his second official foreign visit, where the Qatari government rolled out the red carpet for him – unlike Saudi Arabia, a few days earlier. His next trips are announced this week to Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, while he has already spoken by telephone with his Egyptian and Moroccan counterparts. It was also he who received the heads of French and German diplomacy last Friday in Damascus.
In Syria, the uncertain future of Islamic State fighters from Belgium
Born in 1987 in the province of Hassakah (north-east), the minister has several assets to lead Syria’s diplomatic relations. In recent years, he lived and studied in Turkey, where he obtained a master’s degree (in 2022) and then a doctorate (in 2024) in political science and international relations at Sabahattin Zaim University. He is also fluent in English, having graduated in 2009 with a degree in English language and literature from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Damascus University. According to local press, he is completing a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) program at an American university.
Abu Mohammed al Joulani, a former jihadist in search of political stature
He is reputed to have participated in the insurrection in 2011 and in the founding of Jabhat (Front) al Nusra (the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda) the following year, in the company of Abu Mohammed al Joulani (alias Ahmad al Charaa) . Known under multiple nom de guerre, including that of Zaïd al Attar, he oversaw the transfer of Al Nusra to HTC in 2016. At the end of the following year, he participated in the creation of the Syrian Salvation Government, which will take over from local councils in the administration of areas of Idlib province (northwest) controlled by HTC.
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