Syria’s Former al-Qaeda Chief Arrives in New York, Sits Down With Former CIA Director
Syria’s de facto president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda leader, arrived in New York City on Sunday, where he will attend the UN General Assembly, making him the first Syrian leader to do so since 1967.
On Monday, Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, attended the Concordia Summit, where he sat down with Ret. US Army Gen. David Petraeus, who was the CIA Director from 2011-2012, when the US began a covert CIA campaign, known as Operation Timber Sycamore, to funnel weapons into Syria that ended up in the hands of the country’s al-Qaeda affiliate.
Sharaa had founded Syria’s al-Qaeda affiliate, known as the al-Nusra Front, in 2012. Before that, he fought for al-Qaeda in Iraq and was imprisoned by US forces for several years, something Petraeus pointed out when he spoke with the Syrian leader.
