PNN – The great contradiction in America’s reception of Abu Muhammad al-Julani, who a few years ago had set a $10 million reward for information and identification, has surprised social media users.
Just a year ago, if Abu Muhammad al-Julani, the leader of the terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria, had tried to travel to New York, he would have been at risk of arrest because the United States had offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture due to his activities in the Nusra Front, which later became Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, and his ties to al-Qaeda.
But today, Golani is in the United States to attend the United Nations General Assembly. The trip has caught the attention of users on social media, who have widely reacted to Golani’s trip to New York. Users on the X social page (formerly Twitter) described the transfer of Abu Muhammad al-Julani from a US prison in Iraq to the UN podium as a great and thought-provoking contradiction and paradox.
Of course, Golani’s trip to New York is not a coincidence or a game of chance. Users said that Golani was officially wanted by the United States, and on May 16, 2013, his name was added to the list of most wanted individuals, and on May 10, 2017, Washington offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest. But today, September 21, 2025, Golani is in the United States. One user said: The country that had set a $10 million reward for Sir Golani is now welcoming him with a red carpet in its capital.
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To understand the surprise of users at the presence of Golani in New York, it is better to take a brief look at his past and the way the US interacted with him. After the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Golani went to Iraq and stayed in Mosul for a while, fighting in the ranks of the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization under the command of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi and several of his successors until the US arrested him and sent him to Abu Ghraib prison. From there, he was transferred to Bukka Prison and then to Kroeber Prison at Baghdad Airport. The US then handed him over to the Iraqi government, which in turn sent him to Al-Taji Prison until he was released in 2008.
As current US President Donald Trump stated during his campaign against Hillary Clinton, the US was the main factor in the rise of the ISIS terrorist group in the region, which later changed its policy to hostility towards the group. Of course, this change in approach was achieved only in theory, and in the field realities, American policymakers behind the scenes always supported terrorist groups that were the cause of insecurity and disintegration of countries in the region, including Syria.
Al-Julani resumed his terrorist activities with the Takfiri terrorist group ISIS, which was formed in October 2006 under the command of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He immediately became the head of the terrorist group’s operations in Mosul province. At the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Al-Julani was in contact with al-Baghdadi, and they reached an agreement that Al-Julani would be responsible for Syria and form the ISIS branch in that country.
Al-Baghdadi also ordered Golani to fight the Syrian government and overthrow Bashar al-Assad. Golani went to his country with six people and within a year was able to gather 5,000 troops and deploy them across a large part of Syria. American and Western media propaganda played a key role in inciting Syrian public opinion at the time against the central government of Bashar al-Assad. On January 24, 2012, Golani issued a statement announcing the formation of the terrorist group “Jabhat al-Nusra for the People of the Levant” and designated the village of al-Shaheel as the headquarters of the front. He also called on the Syrian people to fight to overthrow the Syrian government and take up arms.
On April 9, 2013, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced the merger of ISIS and the Nusra Front and the formation of a new organization called the “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant”, but al-Julani rejected this merger and a while later announced that he had pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
After Golani pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda, the US State Department added the group to its list of terrorist organizations. In May 2013, the US State Department designated Golani a “specially designated international terrorist,” froze his assets, and banned US citizens from contacting him.
The UN Security Council’s sanctions committee against ISIS then added Golani’s name to its list of terrorists, banned him from traveling, and prohibited him from carrying weapons.
On May 10, 2017, the US State Department offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the identification or location of Golani. This was despite the fact that the US intelligence and security role in supporting terrorist groups was clearly evident during the military coup to overthrow the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.