The Islamic State group attacked Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa over French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Syria on July 6 and 7, which coincided with bombings that Damascus accused the group of carrying out.
In an editorial published by its weekly al-Naba newspaper, the group said the man it described as “the tyrant al-Jolani,” referring to al-Sharaa, had celebrated the anniversary of the end of French colonial rule several months earlier, but was now celebrating the return to “free Syria” of the French president, whom it accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
In issue 555 of al-Naba, published on Thursday, July 9, the group said Macron’s reception included a visit to the Umayyad Mosque amid chants of “Our master Muhammad is our leader forever.” It described the scene as “a complex spectacle with no solution other than to dismantle it and bring it down on the heads of all its components.”
According to the group’s account, French “invaders” had returned to “free Syria” through the gate of the “conqueror,” referring to al-Sharaa, and the window of the “revolution.” It questioned what form of closer relations was expected between Damascus and Paris.
“Will they open up to its cultural legacy, its civil legal tradition, or France’s experience in ‘counterterrorism,’ banning the hijab, and fighting Islam and Muslims from France to the African Sahel?” the group said.
It added that opening up to France would open the doors to an “intellectual invasion” and expose the country and its people to further “temptation in religion and morals.”
The group also referred to the reopening of French schools, which it described as “notorious,” and considered this the beginning of what it called a “revolutionary opening” in the field of “losing deals.”
Corridor for Global Oil
The group said al-Sharaa had placed Syria on the global auction table as a commodity for sale, describing this as “colonialism itself.”
It linked Macron’s visit to international efforts to turn Syria into an international corridor for the global energy market, claiming that “the plundered wealth of Muslims” would pass through Syria before reaching “the warehouses of the infidels.”
The group said Macron’s latest visit came amid what it described as “fierce competition” among major “Crusader states” to divide the “Syrian cake.”
It also claimed that al-Sharaa aspired to become a guard of the corridors rather than a partner in the wealth.
After the Damascus Bombings
The al-Naba editorial came days after Macron’s trip, the first visit by a Western president to Syria since the fall of the former Syrian government.
On July 7, Damascus witnessed two explosions near French President Emmanuel Macron’s accommodation during his visit, killing one person and injuring 36 others, according to Syrian Health Ministry figures.
Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Damascus reported two explosions near the French president’s accommodation. The first occurred near al-Nanaa Garage in the al-Halbouni district, close to the Ministry of Tourism, while the second occurred near the Four Seasons Hotel.
The Syrian Interior Ministry later announced that it had arrested a cell accused of carrying out the bombings through what it described as a complex security operation and “precise” intelligence monitoring.
The arrests followed a series of simultaneous raids targeting locations across Damascus and its countryside, including al-Qutayfah, Sayyida Zainab, Qudsaya suburb, and Ash al-Warwar, according to the ministry.
In a later statement, Brigadier General Ahmad Haitham al-Dalati, the Internal Security Commander in Damascus Countryside, said preliminary investigations indicated that the cell allegedly responsible for the attacks was affiliated with the Islamic State group.
Syrian Interior Ministry Says Damascus Bombing Suspects Arrested
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