Hassan Soufan, also known by his

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

as Abu al-Bara, Is a

Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indi ...

rebel leader who participated in the Syrian Civil War. He was the appointed as the leader of

Ahrar al-Sham Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya ( ar-at, حركة أحرار الشام الإسلامية, Ḥarakat Aḥrāru š-Šām al-Islāmiyah, lit=Islamic Movement of the Freemen of the Levant), commonly referred to as Ahrar al-Sham, is a coalition ...

and held the position from July 2017 until his resignation in August 2018. He also served as the general commander of the Syrian Liberation Front, assuming the post in early 2018.

Biography

Early life

Hassan Soufan was born in the year 1977 in the coastal Syrian city of

Latakia , coordinates = , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = 11 , elevation_ft = , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code = Country code: 963 City code: 41 , geocode ...

and had fully memorized the Quran at a young age.

Pre-war activities

Soufan had received a degree in economics from the Tishreen University. He had lived in Saudi Arabia and studied Islamic Theology while there under scholars including Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen and Abdullah Ibn Jibreen, until Soufan's arrest in 2005 by Saudi authorities and deportation back to Syria. Upon returning to Syria he was held in the

Sednaya Prison Sednaya Prison ( ar, سجن صيدنايا ''Sajn Ṣaydnāyā'') is a military prison near Damascus in Syria operated by the Syrian government. The prison has been used to hold thousands of prisoners, both civilian detainees and anti-governmen ...

and took part in a riot there in 2008 taking several guards hostage and later negotiated their released with Syrian officials, during his time in prison he associated with factions in the prison that would later go on to form

al-Nusra Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra ( ar, جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام, Jabhat an-Nuṣrah li-Ahl ish-Sham lit. ''Front of the Supporters of the People of Syria/the Levant''), known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham ( ar, جبهة فتح ال ...

and ISIL. A former fellow prisoner who knew Soufan who has become an activist has described Soufan as a moderate saying he disagrees with the approaches and positions taken by al-Nusra and ISIL but does not intend on fighting them or any other Islamic factions and he is against infighting, and views issue such as Takfir as among the most complex issues in Islamic theology. The activist also claimed that Soufan's ideology is the same as

's early leadership.

Syrian Civil War

He was released from prison in late-December 2016 following a prisoner swap between the Syrian government and the rebels, and was appointed the leader of Ahrar al-Sham in mid-2017. He has promised a revival of Ahrar al-Sham and has blamed the former leadership of the group for its decline. In 2018 he was made the general commander of the Syrian Liberation Front, a merger of Ahrar al-Sham and the

Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement The Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement ( ar, حركة نور الدين الزنكي ''Ḥaraka Nūr ad-Dīn az-Zankī'') was a Sunni Islamist rebel group involved in the Syrian Civil War. In 2014, it was reportedly one of the most influential factio ...

which later came into conflict with

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) (, transliteration: ', "Organization for the Liberation of the Levant" or "Levant Liberation Committee"), commonly referred to as Tahrir al-Sham, is a Sunni Islamist political and armed organisation involved in the ...

shortly after its formation in February 2018. In August 2018 he resigned from his position as the leader of Ahrar al-Sham. In May 2019, he resigned from his position as the leader of the National Front for Liberation as well as his position in Ahrar al-Sham for unknown reasons, he stated the reasons were personal, he also stated he was committed to fighting and would continue to participate in the Syrian Civil War.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soufan, Hassan Syrian people 1977 births 2019 deaths Deaths by airstrike during the Syrian civil war Deaths by airstrike People of the Syrian civil war