Julani was born in Saudi Arabia, later lived in Damascus, and joined al-Qaeda before becoming the head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria.

Sharaa, met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Sunday in his first foreign trip as Syrian leader, in a sign of the major shifts under way in regional alliances.

Transitional Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is on his first foreign visit to Saudi Arabia after taking over Damascus. Accompanied by Foreign Minister Assad Al-Shaibani, Al-Sharaa met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss bilateral and regional issues.