This Former Militia Leader Is Trying To Reshape Syria’s War-Torn Economy

Under the leadership of Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syria has achieved what was once unthinkable. After a meeting in Riyadh between al-Sharaa and U.S. President Donald Trump (the first time a U.S. and Syrian leader have met in 25 years), Trump announced that the U.S. would remove all sanctions on Syria.

Given the war-torn country’s economic woes, with 90% of Syrians living in poverty, according to the Arab Gulf States Institute, al-Sharaa called the sanctions relief news “historic.”

The decision to lift the sanctions could also expedite the Gulf states offering more financial aid and investment in Syria, as U.S. sanctions had made this impossible in the past.

This is all promising news for al-Sharaa, who has managed a remarkable image makeover. Al-Sharaa was once a commander of al-Nusra front, al-Qaeda’s wing in the Syrian conflict. At one point he served as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s deputy in Iraq and was a trusted lieutenant of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leaders of Al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Islamic State, respectively.

Due to tensions over the Islamic State’s brutal tactics and Baghdadi’s attempt to merge al-Nusra with the Islamic State under his leadership, al-Sharaa announced a change in direction in 2016. Al-Sharaa began publicly cutting ties with the global jihadist movement and focused on the revolution in Syria. Since rising to power, after ousting Bashar al-Assad in 2024, he has prioritized reuniting Syria, building state institutions, and revitalizing the economy.

“We will strive to rehabilitate industry, protect national products, and create an environment conducive to investment,” al-Sharaa said in a public statement, reported by Levant 24.

Described by the Economist as persuasive and pragmatic, al-Sharaa led the insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alongside the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and a patchwork of other opposition factions to topple al-Assad in December 2024. By January 29, 2025, a military council decided that al-Sharaa would be the interim leader of Syria.

The interim government is led almost exclusively by HTS appointees, though the Syrian media reported that Syrian National Army generals, Abu Amsha and Saif Abu Bakr, are being promoted to command the 25^th division of the new Syrian army.

For the moment, al-Sharaa holds power undemocratically with no system in place to hold officials to account, including no national parliament. Al-Sharaa remarked that holding elections and constructing a new constitution in Syria could take years, the BBC reported, although a temporary constitution was agreed upon in March.

Despite the fact that al-Sharaa pledged to protect Syria’s minority groups, Syria has experienced a recent surge in sectarian violence, particularly along the coast in the Alawite strongholds (the minority sect the Assad family belonged to). Human rights groups like Amnesty International claimed that government affiliated militias targeted Alawite civilians in reprisal attacks killing over 1400 people – some shot at close range.

In the Northeast, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have occupied about a third of Syria’s territory, controlling Syria’s most oil-rich and cultivable land. As only 32.8% of Syria’s land is arable, not having control over this area has implications for food and economic security, not to mention economic stability. Kurds make up 8-10% of the total Syrian population and the SDF has an armed force of about 100,000 men and women.

However, al-Sharaa had success in gaining concessions from the SDF in the past. On March 10, al-Sharaa and SDF leader Mazloum Abdi signed an agreement to end hostilities in both Aleppo and the resource-rich parts of Eastern Syria. Unlike Iraqi Kurdistan, which is overwhelmingly populated by Kurds, these regions of Syria host a mix of both Kurds and Arabs. Local news outlet Al Majalla quoted Abdi voicing support for Syria’s territorial integrity and the need to have one institutional framework.

In the South of Syria, near its border with Jordan, there are still many tribal Sunni militias that are wary of al-Shaara’s rule. Yet the Eighth Brigade, a 3,000 strong group of rebel Sunni forces in the Southern Daraa Governorate, disbanded in April after pressure from al-Sharaa. And while the Druze may feel threatened, as armed men (labeled “outlaws” by the new Syrian Government) killed more than 100 Druze this spring, al-Sharaa promptly signed an agreement in March with the Druze in the southern province of Suwayda to integrate their community into the overarching state institutions.

Though violence and instability still plague Syria, al-Sharaa’s ability to make agreements has helped impress upon world leaders to bank on him, getting much needed sanction relief (the first time since 1979), an important step toward rebuilding the economy. As the Arab Gulf States Institute estimates that reconstruction will cost the country $400 billion, the sanctions relief announcement could not have come at a better time.