Idlib’s Continuous Decent into Chaos
Shaykh Abu Shuayb Misree and Issam Khateeb were two outspoken critics of Abu Muhammad Jolani’s policies and his treatment of prisoners and the Syrian people in general. Then in October 2023 both of them who were in semi-hiding in the city of Azaz, Syria were both abducted as they walked home from Jumua’h prayers on a Friday afternoon virtually at the exact same time. CCTV footage captured the abduction of Shaykh Abu Shuayb showing a pickup truck full of masked men slamming into him as he walked next to his son. Subsequently he was bundled into the car and the assailants, HTS security men, sped away without further incident or hinderance from the groups in charge of security in Azaz.
The people were outraged. HTS was immediately implicated in the abduction. However, HTS repeatedly told everyone that, “We don’t have them!” However it wasn’t the kind of denial that was designed to convince anyone it seemed, actually it appeared as if they wanted everyone to know that they did have them and how they deal with “dissidents”. It was the kind of denial that simply tells the people to stop asking about them.
Months later, pictures began emerging of Abu Shuayb Misree appearing alongside one of Jolani’s top men, Dr. Ibrahim Shashoo. The accounts of their torture while in Jolani’s prison began to emerge as an open secret.
It should be borne in mind that all of this was taking place while Jolani was trying to placate protesters who were calling for his downfall. He repeatedly said that “mistakes” were made and that reforms were the order of the day. Protesters were not impressed and they continued to push for the release of Misree and Khateeb along with others.
The two are now back home with their families after protesters demanded their release. However Jolani’s embattled credibility made no progress in convincing the Syrian people that his rule isn’t a mirror image of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s heavy handed tactics which led to the civil war.
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