LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Syria's new leader is trying to unite the various rebels who banded together to topple Bashar al-Assad. As NPR's Arezou Rezvani reports, it's a hard sell for some fighters.
AREZOU REZVANI, BYLINE: It was impossible to imagine a protest of any kind in Damascus just a few weeks ago, under the rule of Bashar al-Assad.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Chanting in Arabic).
REZVANI: But on a recent evening, hundreds of young Syrians gathered in the central square to call for a secular and inclusive government.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Chanting in Arabic).
REZVANI: Watching this crowd is a 25-year-old fighter who wouldn't give his real name. He goes by Abu Ali. Secularism, inclusivity - this is not at all how he sees the future for Syria, which is why he's reticent to give his name. He knows his views don't line up with Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham - or HTS - the rebel group that led the toppling of al-Assad, now in power.
ABU ALI: I want Islamic laws to control Syria and all Islamic countries.
REZVANI: With a rifle slung across his back, wearing loose highwater pants, sneakers and a red keffiyeh wrapped atop long, wavy hair, Abu Ali says he was, until recently, with the Islamic State. While it's impossible to verify his affiliation, it is known that some ISIS members were among the factions that make up HTS. When he saw the group closing in on Damascus, he set aside his differences and fought alongside the HTS rebels. Now that they're in power, there are certain things Abu Ali wants. On elections...
ALI: And, by the way, I don't believe about voting or what people want. I don't support voting system.
REZVANI: Regarding women...
ALI: She don't need to work under the man rule. And, you know, women still can work in - woman work as nurse, medicine. Why you need women to be like as judge and others?
REZVANI: On alcohol consumption, bars and clubs...
ALI: (Speaking Arabic).
REZVANI: "Nothing good comes out of the clubs," he says, drawing nods from the crowd of mostly men who've gathered around us.
ALI: (Speaking Arabic). We didn't fight for 14 years to have clubs in the end.
REZVANI: One of the few women listening to Abu Ali - anxiously - is 21-year-old medical school student Dima Abood. She knows not all rebels think like Abu Ali, but she's still worried by what she's heard.
DIMA ABOOD: I think it scares us all, but we're waiting to see. We're waiting to see what they're going to do, you know?
REZVANI: That anxiety stems in part from Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who started out as an affiliate of the Islamic State and al-Qaida. He eventually broke ties and rebranded himself. And so far, he appears to be paving a path for a moderate Syria. In his victory speech and in the few interviews he's done with Western media, he spoke of an inclusive future for Syria. But there are lingering fears. Even if Sharaa has really abandoned extreme Islamist beliefs, it's not clear if - or how - he'd bend to pressure or appease the hodgepodge of rebels who, like Abu Ali, still hold them. That gray area is one Qutaiba Idlbi of the Atlantic Council says foreign powers could exploit.
QUTAIBA IDLBI: I think the ability to spoil things, whether it is from Iran or other countries in the region, is pretty high. And there is a potential for those countries to try to utilize some of those rebel groups to spoil things in Syria.
REZVANI: Talking to Abu Ali, it's not hard to see how that could happen. He says his role in a future Syria depends on just one thing.
ALI: I mean, if they didn't apply Sharia law, the war will never end.
REZVANI: If they do not apply Sharia law, will you fight this government?
ALI: Of course, even if I now sleep with them and eat with them and they are my friends - because the ideology is very clear - fight for the Sharia law. Who is apply it, we're with him. Who is not apply it, even if he were my cousin, my brother, whatever, I will be against him. This is it.
REZVANI: It's not clear how many Abu Alis there are across Syria and how big a threat they are to Syria's new leadership. Conversations with rebel fighters affiliated with other groups suggest his views aren't hard to find. How Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa deals with that - or doesn't - might have major consequences for Syria's future.
Arezou Rezvani, NPR News, Damascus. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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