Shocking State Dept Giveaway: Ex-Al Qaeda Boss & $10M Bounty Target—Now Dubbed an "ISIS Terrorist" by Critics—Lands US Visa for UNGA Amid Syria Chaos

Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani and the leader of the Al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, has arrived in New York as Syria's interim president following his group's role in ousting Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 (@LauraLoomer on X)

NEW YORK- 22 September 2025 — In a move that's ignited fierce backlash from national security hawks and human rights watchdogs, the U.S. State Department has greenlit a visa for Ahmed al-Sharaa—once the shadowy jihadist commander known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani—to touch down in the United States for the 80th United Nations General Assembly. The visit, unfolding this week amid the glittering halls of the UN in Manhattan, marks the first time a Syrian head of state has addressed the body in nearly six decades, since Hafez al-Assad's era. But for many, it's less a diplomatic milestone and more a glaring red flag: How does a man with deep roots in Al Qaeda's global terror network, slapped with a $10 million U.S. bounty just months ago, get to waltz into America unchecked?

Al-Sharaa, 42, rocketed from obscurity to Syria's interim president in late 2024 after his Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militia spearheaded the lightning offensive that toppled longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad in December. Born in Damascus and radicalized in a U.S.-run Iraqi prison in the early 2000s, al-Sharaa founded the Al Nusra Front in 2012 as Al Qaeda's Syrian arm, orchestrating suicide bombings, beheadings, and clashes that left thousands dead. His group formally split from Al Qaeda in 2016, rebranding as HTS, but Washington kept him blacklisted as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" until a stunning pivot last winter.

On December 20, 2024, the U.S. abruptly lifted the $10 million reward for information leading to his capture or conviction—a bounty first posted in May 2013 for his role in "acts of Islamic terrorism." The decision, announced amid the first U.S. diplomatic foray to post-Assad Damascus, was framed as a pragmatic step to engage Syria's new rulers and stabilize the war-torn nation. "We received positive messages," U.S. diplomat Barbara Leaf noted after early talks with al-Sharaa, signaling a thaw in relations frozen under Assad's brutal reign.

Fast-forward nine months, and al-Sharaa's UN debut is in full swing. Arriving in New York over the weekend, the bearded leader—ditching his signature keffiyeh for a sharp suit—has been on a charm offensive. He huddled with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday to discuss "U.S. priorities in Syria," including counterterrorism and humanitarian aid. In a Reuters interview, al-Sharaa doubled down on pleas to scrap the 2019 Caesar Act sanctions choking Syria's economy, arguing they punish civilians more than perpetrators. He also met with Syrian-American expatriates in a Midtown hotel, vowing inclusive governance and economic revival—echoing his post-Assad promises of a "civil state" free from sectarian strife.

Yet beneath the polished diplomacy, storm clouds gather. Critics, including former Trump administration officials and conservative lawmakers, blast the visa as a "reckless giveaway" that whitewashes al-Sharaa's bloodstained ledger. "This guy's HTS butchered innocents and hosted Al Qaeda bigwigs—now he's sipping coffee with our diplomats?" fumed one ex-CIA analyst on Fox News, invoking al-Sharaa's early flirtation with ISIS before a bitter 2013 schism that saw his forces battle the caliphate's black banners.Hardline voices have escalated the rhetoric, dubbing him an "ISIS terrorist" in online tirades and op-eds, pointing to HTS's lingering ties to global jihadists and unproven atrocities in Idlib.Even as al-Sharaa insists he's severed jihadist links—claiming HTS now targets only "military objectives" and combats ISIS remnants—the U.S. Treasury still flags his group as a terror entity, complicating sanction relief.

The optics are explosive. Al-Sharaa's New York jaunt coincides with heightened U.S. alerts over Al Qaeda resurgence in Syria's power vacuum, just as his HTS consolidates control over Damascus and beyond.

 Supporters, like some Gulf diplomats, hail it as realpolitik: Assad's Iran-backed regime was a terror sponsor itself, backing Hezbollah and Hamas while gassing civilians."Al-Sharaa may not be a saint, but he's better than the devil we knew," one analyst quipped.Still, congressional Republicans are demanding briefings, with whispers of probes into the State Department's vetting process.

As al-Sharaa takes the UN podium Tuesday—his speech expected to rail against "external meddling" from Israel and Iran—the question lingers: Is this the birth of a fragile U.S.-Syria détente, or a high-stakes gamble that could backfire spectacularly? For now, the ex-jihadist turned statesman roams Gotham's streets, a living symbol of Syria's chaotic rebirth—and America's tangled dance with its former foes.