Julani tells BBC: This is not Afghanistan, we will educate women

Ahmed "Abu Muhammad al-Julani" al-Sharaa told the BBC on Wednesday that Syria would not become a second Afghanistan and that it would permit women to receive education.

Julani spoke to the BBC in an attempt to clarify his position on the new Syria while assuaging fears that he would turn Syria into the new Afghanistan.

Speaking from the Presidential Palace, Sharaa told the BBC that Syria was completely exhausted by the war and that it did not pose a threat to the West.

"Now, after all that has happened, sanctions must be lifted because they were targeted at the old regime. The victim and the oppressor should not be treated in the same way," he said.

He also denied that his group, Hayat Tahrir al-Shams (HTS), had committed terrorist attacks and that the listing of HTS as a terrorist organization was a political designation.

The United States has a $10 million bounty on Julani's head for information that would lead to his death or capture. Western countries have declined to say whether they will be maintaining HTS's status as a terrorist organization.

The BBC asked Julani if there would be restrictions on women's education and alcohol, to which Julani said they would not be restricting the rights of women and highlighted that Syria was very different from Afghanistan. 

Repeating the question, they ask about whether alcohol would be permitted, to which Julani says that such matters will be decided by legislative committees. He followed up, clarifying that all Syrians will be required to follow the law, including the president.

Tentative cross-confessional support

Independent Arab newspaper Al-Araby al-Jadeed reported that the new government had received tentative support from Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, the spiritual leader of Syria's Druze community.

Al-Hijri was reported as pushing for a "decentralized" system of government that safeguards the various groups throughout the country.

"We are not ready to fall under the control of any sectarian, partisan, religious, or special regional authority," he said.

There were also reports that the Kurdish-led-SDF troops in the country's northeast abolished customs duties and other trade-related taxes with the rest of Syria following the formation of the interim government.