The Economist: An Alawite old Friend of Ahmed al Sharaa played a decisive role in overthrowing Assad
The Economist unfold a story about Khaled al Ahmad, who was a close friend of Syrian transitional President Ahmed al Sharaa since their high school days in Syria.
In 2021, Khaled al Ahmad, an Alawite, traveled to Idlib with Turkish mediation, where he met with al Sharaa to discuss how to overthrow the Assad regime and what role he could play in doing so.
Later, Khaled al Ahmad played a crucial role as a mediator and negotiator during the overthrow of the Syrian regime in late 2024.
His primary role was to communicate with senior officers of the ousted regime to persuade them to surrender or withdraw without a fight, which hastened the collapse of the regime and the fall of Damascus without a major battle.
While the forces of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham and the armed factions advanced towards the cities of Aleppo and Damascus, al Ahmad was sending messages to the officers of the Assad forces, urging them not to resist and to surrender their positions.
According to the Economist, al Ahmad sent a clear message to regime army commanders, “You’ll not be pursued if you withdraw,” which led to the regime’s defenses disintegrating faster than expected.
When Hayat Tahrir al Sham launched its attack on Aleppo, al Ahmad succeeded in convincing military commanders not to fight a losing battle, which contributed to the city’s rapid fall.
He also managed to negotiate the release of 630 young military students from the military academy in Aleppo, saving them from the battle.
After the collapse of Aleppo, al Ahmad told his friend al Sharaa, “The road to Damascus is open,” indicating that the regime had completely collapsed.
As the regime’s defenses disintegrated, al Ahmad continued to communicate with the leaders of the Republican Guard, the force responsible for protecting Bashar al Assad, and convinced them not to resist, which led to the collapse of the defenses around the capital and the fall of Damascus without any significant confrontation.
During this critical phase, al Ahmad remained in constant contact with Ahmed al Sharaa, who later became the transitional president of Syria, updating him on developments on the ground and securing channels of communication with the regime’s leaders to ensure their withdrawal without a fight, which contributed to the regime’s rapid downfall.
After the victory of the revolution and the fall of the Assad regime, al Ahmad visited Damascus several times and met with Ahmed al Sharaa, according to the Economist, which interviewed him about his role during that period.
