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Tahrir al-Sham Arrests of Qaeda Leaders Cranks up Zawahiri- Julani Dispute

Al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri (to the right) and the military commander of the terror group’s ex-offshoot in Syria Abu Mohammad al-Julani (to the left). PHOTO: Asharq Al-Awsat
Al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri (to the right) and the military commander of the terror group’s ex-offshoot in Syria Abu Mohammad al-Julani (to the left). PHOTO: Asharq Al-Awsat
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Tahrir al-Sham Arrests of Qaeda Leaders Cranks up Zawahiri- Julani Dispute

Al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri (to the right) and the military commander of the terror group’s ex-offshoot in Syria Abu Mohammad al-Julani (to the left). PHOTO: Asharq Al-Awsat
Al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri (to the right) and the military commander of the terror group’s ex-offshoot in Syria Abu Mohammad al-Julani (to the left). PHOTO: Asharq Al-Awsat

Conflict ruptured between Al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and the military commander of the terror group’s ex-offshoot in Syria Abu Mohammad al-Julani, after Julani led a wide campaign of arrests against Qaeda big shots near Afghan-Pakistani borders.

Zawahiri said in an audiotape broadcast on Tuesday night that he did not authorize Julani’s break from Qaeda.

In the 35-minute audio message, Zawahiri categorically rejected the rebranding and said that Jabaht Al Nusra had betrayed the oath of allegiance (bayat) it owed as the branch of his organization in Syria. Al Nusra Front, according to him, did not consult the organization’s leadership when it made the decision to formally disengage from Qaeda.

Tahrir al-Sham group was formed in summer 2016 as a merger between Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly al-Nusra Front), the Ansar al-Din Front, Jaysh al-Sunna, Liwa al-Haqq, and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement.

Zawahiri and Julani’s fight came into public spotlight after Jabhat Fateh al-Sham launched a large-scale arrest campaign on Monday.

Qaeda figures in Idlib, leaders and immigrants were among those taken away.

It is reported that the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham arrested the two most important figures on the wanted list, the former legitimate official in Al-Nusra Front Sami al-Aridi, and the former leader in Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Iyad al-Tubasi.

Zawahiri’s remarks showed grave discontent, as he said that Syrians had no right to ask militiamen to leave the country since the jihad in Syria was a matter pertaining to the global Muslim community.

His public statement signals that the schism reached a point of no return. Increasingly, the tension between the two rose.

On another hand, dozens of mortar bombs landed on the last major rebel stronghold near the Syrian capital Damascus on Wednesday, a war monitor and a witness said on Wednesday, despite a 48-hour truce proposed by Russia to coincide with the start of peace talks in Geneva.

After a relatively calm morning, shelling picked up later in the day, accompanied by ground attempts to storm the besieged enclave, a witness in the Eastern Ghouta area told Reuters.

The Syrian army stepped up bombardment two weeks ago in an effort to recapture Eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held pocket of densely populated agricultural land on the outskirts of the capital under siege since 2012.

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Danish Leader Tells the US ‘You Cannot Annex Another Country’ as She Visits Greenland

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)
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Danish Leader Tells the US ‘You Cannot Annex Another Country’ as She Visits Greenland

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)

Denmark's prime minister has told the US during a visit to Greenland that “you cannot annex another country,” even with the argument that international security is at stake.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, said on Friday that Washington will respect Greenland's self-determination and Copenhagen “should focus on the fact that the Greenlanders don’t want to be a part of Denmark.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was wrapping up a three-day visit to the strategically critical Arctic island on Friday as US President Donald Trump seeks control of Greenland. He argues that Greenland, a semiautonomous territory belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark, is critical to US security.

A week ago, Vice President JD Vance visited a remote US military base in Greenland and accused Denmark of underinvesting in the territory.

Frederiksen pushed back against the US criticism as she spoke on Thursday alongside Greenland's incoming and outgoing leaders on board a Danish naval ship. She argued that Denmark, a NATO ally, has been a reliable friend.

Speaking in English, she said that “if we let ourselves be divided as allies, then we do our foes a favor. And I will do everything that I can to prevent that from happening.”

“When you ask our businesses to invest in the US, they do. When you ask us to spend more on our defense, we do; and when you ask of us to strengthen security in the Arctic, we are on the same page,” she said.

“But when you demand to take over a part of the Kingdom of Denmark’s territory, when we are met by pressure and by threats from our closest ally, what are we to believe in about the country that we have admired for so many years?”

“This is about the world order that we have built together across the Atlantic over generations: you cannot annex another country, not even with an argument about international security,” Frederiksen said.

The Danish leader said that, if the US wants to strengthen security in the Arctic, “let us do so together.”

Political parties in Greenland, which has been leaning toward eventual independence from Denmark for years, last week agreed to form a broad-based new coalition government in the face of Trump's designs on the territory. Those have angered many in Greenland and Denmark.

In an interview with Newsmax on Thursday, Vance repeated the accusation that Denmark has “really underinvested in the infrastructure and security of Greenland.”

He said Trump's point is that “this matters to our security, this matters to our missile defense, and we're going to protect America's interests come hell or high water.”

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who was attending a meeting in Brussels with his NATO counterparts, wrote on social network X that he had an “honest and direct” meeting Thursday with Rubio.

“I made it crystal clear that claims and statements about annexing Greenland are not only unacceptable and disrespectful,” Løkke Rasmussen wrote. “They amount to a violation of international law.”

Rubio told reporters in Brussels Friday that “no one's annexed anything.” He added that Vance has made clear that “he's going to respect the self-determination of Greenlanders.”

“Denmark should focus on the fact that the Greenlanders don’t want to be a part of Denmark," Rubio said.

“We didn’t give them that idea. They’ve been talking about that for a long time,” he said. "Whenever they make that decision, they’ll make that decision.”

“If they make that decision, then the United States would stand ready, potentially, to step in and say, okay, we can create a partnership with you," Rubio said, adding that "we’re not at that stage.”