The US Shift: From $10 Million Bounty to Embracing Ex-Al-Qaeda Chief Jolani

The country that once set a $10 million reward for Jolani’s head is now welcoming him with a red carpet in its capital.

United States, PUREWILAYAH.COM - Just a year ago, if Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the leader of the terrorist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham in Syria, had attempted to travel to New York, he would have been at risk of arrest, because the US, due to his activities in Jabhat al-Nusra—which later turned into Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham—and his ties with al-Qaeda, had placed a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture.

But today, Jolani is in the US to attend the sessions of the United Nations General Assembly. This trip has drawn the attention of social media users, who widely reacted to Jolani’s arrival in New York.

On the social platform X (formerly Twitter), users described the transfer of Abu Mohammad al-Jolani from an American prison in Iraq to the podium of the United Nations as a great contradiction and a striking paradox.

Jolani’s Background with U.S. Authorities

Of course, Jolani’s trip to New York is not a coincidence or a matter of luck. Users said that Jolani was officially wanted by the U.S., and on May 16, 2013, his name was placed on the wanted list, and on May 10, 2017, Washington announced a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest.

But now, on September 21, 2025, Jolani is present in the U.S.

One user said: the country that once set a $10 million reward for Jolani’s head is now welcoming him with a red carpet in its capital.

To understand the surprise of users over Jolani’s presence in New York, it is better to take a brief look at his past and how the US has dealt with him.

After the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Jolani went to Iraq and stayed for a time in Mosul, fighting in the ranks of al-Qaeda under the command of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and several of his successors, until the US arrested him and sent him to Abu Ghraib prison.

From there, he was transferred to Camp Bucca and then to Cropper prison at Baghdad Airport. Later, the US handed Jolani over to the Iraqi government, which sent him to al-Taji prison until he was released in 2008.

US Role in Rise of Terrorist Groups

As Donald Trump, the current president of the United States, announced during his campaign against presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the US was the main factor behind the rise of the terrorist group ISIL in the region, although it later changed its policy to hostility toward the group.

However, this policy shift was only theoretical, while in reality, US policymakers always supported terrorist groups behind the scenes—groups that caused insecurity and disintegration of regional countries, including Syria.

Jolani’s Return to Terrorism

Jolani resumed his terrorist activities with the takfiri-terrorist group ISIL, which had been established in October 2006 under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He immediately became the head of operations for this terrorist group in the province of Mosul.

At the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Jolani was in contact with al-Baghdadi, and they agreed that Jolani would take responsibility for Syria and form the ISIL branch in the country.

Al-Baghdadi also ordered Jolani to fight the Syrian government and topple Bashar al-Assad.

Jolani entered his country with six men, and within a year, he managed to recruit 5,000 fighters and deploy them across a wide area of Syria.

US and Western media propaganda played a key role in inciting Syrian public opinion at that time against the central government of Bashar al-Assad.

In January 2012, Jolani announced the establishment of the terrorist group “Jabhat al-Nusra li-Ahl al-Sham” in a statement, designating the village of al-Shuhayl as its base of operations. He also called on Syrians to take up arms and fight to overthrow the Syrian government.

Links to al-Qaeda

In April 2013, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced the merger of ISIL and Jabhat al-Nusra into a new entity called the “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” (ISIL), but Jolani rejected the merger and later announced his pledge of allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda.

After Jolani’s pledge of allegiance to al-Qaeda, the US State Department added the organization to its list of terrorist groups. In May 2013, the US State Department described Jolani as an “international terrorist,” froze his assets, and prohibited American citizens from contacting him.

Subsequently, the UN Security Council’s sanctions committee against ISIL placed Jolani on its terrorist list, banned him from travel, and prohibited him from carrying weapons.

Bounty and U.S. Reversal

On May 10, 2017, the US State Department announced a $10 million reward for information that would identify or locate Jolani.

This came at a time when US intelligence and security support for terrorist groups during the attempted coup to overthrow Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria was also quite evident.

That is why, after Jolani came to power in Syria last December and the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government, the US revoked the bounty, and the State Department announced that Jolani had been informed there was no longer a $10 million reward for his capture.

The Unanswered Question

Even with all this, Americans have yet to answer how it is possible that a terrorist who just yesterday had a $10 million bounty on his head is today walking the red carpet in New York to enter the United Nations and address the world! (PW)

Source: Mehr News Agency