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Syrian president interviewed by former CIA chief who arrested him in Iraq

2025-09-24 20:21:19Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Syrian president interviewed by former CIA chief who arrested him in Iraq
Ahmed al-Sharaa with David Petraeus

Taking to the stage at a political forum in New York for an interview, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and former CIA chief David Petraeus faced each other, now in different roles, after the retired general had previously arrested him in Iraq.

Al-Sharaa, who ousted former President Bashar al-Assad and ended his family's 50-year rule in Syria in a military offensive late last year, has been the country's president since January.

Petraeus then commanded US forces during the invasion of Iraq, when al-Sharaa was captured and imprisoned. The new Syrian leader spent 2006 to 2011 in Iraqi prisons.

Petraeus later served as director of the US Central Intelligence Agency.

After his release, al-Sharaa created the al-Nusra Front in Syria in 2012 to fight Assad. Four years later, he severed ties with al-Qaeda. A year later, al-Nusra merged with other groups to form Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by al-Sharaa.

HTS was designated a "terrorist organization" by the US in 2018, citing past ties to al-Qaeda, a designation the US revoked in July as Washington softened its approach to post-Assad Syria.

The US had placed a $10 million bounty on al-Sharaa's head, which they only brought down in late December.

Al-Sharaa arrived in New York on Sunday to attend the United Nations General Assembly, becoming the first Syrian head of state to do so in almost six decades.

Syrian president interviewed by former CIA chief who arrested him in Iraq

The president and his large delegation held meetings, including with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the leader delivered a speech to the General Assembly on Monday.

With Petraeus, he then attended the 2025 Concordia Annual Summit, a forum on global affairs held in conjunction with the General Assembly that brings together world leaders, business leaders, and NGO figures to foster partnerships and public-private dialogue.

The former US general not only acknowledged the strange coincidence, but used it to praise al-Sharaa. “His trajectory from insurgent leader to head of state has been one of the most dramatic political transformations in recent Middle Eastern history,” Petraeus told the audience.

Later in the interview, he expressed concern for the Syrian leader's personal well-being, asking if he was getting enough sleep. Petraeus said al-Sharaa has "a lot of fans" and that he is one of them.

"At one time, we were in fighting and now we are moving to discussion," al-Sharaa said with a smile when asked about their history, adding that people who have gone through war know the importance of peace.

"We cannot judge the past based on today's rules, and we cannot judge today based on the rules of the past," the Syrian president said.

Speaking about his time as an al-Qaeda commander, al-Sharaa said that perhaps there were mistakes before, but what matters now is protecting the Syrian people and the region from instability.

"Our commitment to that line is what brought us here today in New York, sitting here among allies and friends," he declared.


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