The Ahrar al-Sham group appointed Jaber Ali Basha as general commander after the resignation of Hassan Soufan, the group’s previous commander.

This came after a meeting of the group’s high command represented by The Shoura Council, according to an internal statement, which Enab Baladi obtained a copy of on, Aug. 16, 2018.

The statement outlined a number of decisions, as well as the appointment of Ali Basha, most prominently “concentrating the movement’s efforts in the coming stages on military preparations and repelling the expected assault on the liberated areas.”

Another decision taken by the Shoura Council was to “activate work on the National Front for Liberation and make the national conference a success, arriving at the unification of the revolution’s forces based on a single authority for the Syrian revolution.”

In May, eleven groups in the Free Syrian Army announced the formation of the National Front for Liberation in a joint statement.

The formation includes Faylaq al-Sham, the Free Idleb Army, the First Coastal Division, the Second Coastal Division and the First Infantry Division in addition to the Second Army, the Elite Army (Jaish al-Nukhba) and Victory Army (Jaish al-Nasr), the Islam Martyrs Brigade in Daraya (Liwa Shuhada al-Islam), the Freedom Brigade (Liwa al-Hurriya) and Division 23, before merging with the Syria Liberation Front which includes Ahrar al-Sham and the Nureddin al-Zinki movement, Saqour al-Sham Birgades, the Jaish al-Ahrar and Damascus Rally (Tajammua Damashq).

Who is “Sheikh Jaber”?

Born in the town of Binish in 1984, he has a master’s degree in Islamic sharia from Damascus University.

He worked previously as head of a number of sharia courts set up by rebel groups in liberated areas, especially the Aleppo countryside and Idleb province.

The courts included the Islamic Authority in Binish, while he also worked as a judge in Jaish al-Fatah.

He took the position of deputy commander of Ahrar al-Sham when Ali al-Omar (Abou Omar) took control alongside the commander Anas Najib.

He was party to the agreement which brought together Tahrir al-Sham and Ahrar in July 2017 when there were conflicts between the first and the Saquor al-Sham group.

After Hassan Soufan took command of the movement in 2017, he was dismissed from his post as deputy general commander and replaced by commander Alaa Faham “Abu al-Ezz.”

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This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.