Top militant released from Syrian jail

IDLIB: A powerful Al Qaeda-linked group that dominates much of rebel-held northwestern Syria released on Friday one of its founders ater he spent months in jail on suspicion of having links with forces outside the country.

The release appears to be a move by the militant group’s top leader to appease the public as many have been protesting over the past week, demanding he leave and asking that the detainees be released.

On Friday, hundreds marched in a show of defiance against the militant chief, Abu Mohammed Al Golani, who runs the Al Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir Al Sham group. The protests took place in the city of Idlib, the capital of the province with the same name, and surrounding towns and villages.

“Al Golani, we don’t want you,” chanted some of the protesters in Idlib.

The Al Qaeda-linked group has crushed several rival groups in the enclave over the past few years and violently suppressed any protests against it.

But public anger against the militants’ wrongdoings has escalated.

The released militant is one of the group’s co-founders, Maysara Al Jubouri, beter known as Abu Maria Al Qahtani. He had been jailed since August over misuse of social media.

The group said he was released ater an investigation proved he was innocent.

Earlier in the week, the militant group released 420 detainees from its jails, following similar demonstrations sparked by the recent death of a member of a rebel faction, allegedly while being tortured in a jail run by the Al Qaeda-linked group.

There have been allegations that the jails run by Al Golani targeted the group’s own members suspected of allegedly having provided intelligence to the Us-led coalition, which over the years led to the killing of top Al Qaeda commanders in drone strikes in different parts of Syria.

During a rally on Tuesday night in the town of Daret Azzeh, Al Qaeda-linked militants opened fire at the protesters but no casualties were reported.