HTS hands over two al-Qaeda leaders to Turkey
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – On Tuesday, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) handed over two foreign leaders who were members of al-Qaeda to Turkish intelligence through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing in northern Idlib, after close to a year and a half in detention by the HTS.
A security source at the Bab al-Hawa crossing told a North Press reporter that two al-Qaeda leaders were transported this afternoon from the Prison 107 in the city of Idlib to the Bab al-Hawa crossing to be handed over to the Turkish side.
The source said that one of them is an Egyptian national named Mutasim Muhammad, aka Abu Shahid al-Masri, while the other is a Saudi national named Haroun Awad al-Dosari, aka Abu Aisha al-Jazrawi.
The source added that the handover was based on a request from the Turkish intelligence and was done under the supervision of Abu Maria al-Qahtani, head of the HTS General Security Apparatus.
“The HTS has handed over dozens of foreign leaders affiliated with al-Qaeda to Turkish intelligence, the latest of whom was Abu Auf al-Shari, a Saudi national, who was handed over through Bab al-Hawa after about two years of detention,” the source concluded.