Did Al-Shaybani Enter Syria with Al-Sharaa? What Rory Stewart’s Interview Reveals

The Claim

Campbell, in his discussion with Stewart after the podcast aired, claimed that Al-Sharaa returned to Syria from Iraq alongside Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaybani.

The claim gained significant traction, with the podcast surpassing 500,000 views on YouTube within 18 hours of its release.

هام :ذكر الصحفيان البريطانيان أن الرئيس أحمد الشرع قال "في البودكاست" أن وزير الخارجية أسعد الشيباني أحد الستة الذين دخلوا معه من العراق .للتوضيح :أولا الرئيس لم يذكر ذلك ، وهذا تخمين منهم وهو غير صحيح .شخصيا أعرف الاستاذ أسعد جيداودار حديث بيني وبينه حول قصته وقال لي:… pic.twitter.com/MWwxaOd9lK — محمد الفيصل || M . faisal (@mhmdfaisel) February 11, 2025

Syrian journalist Mohammed Al-Faisal, who is close to the Syrian authorities, stated that the British journalists attributed the claim about Al-Shaybani entering from Iraq to a statement made by Al-Sharaa during their interview. However, Al-Faisal clarified that Al-Sharaa never said this.

Verify Syria investigated the claim made during a discussion on the "Leading" podcast, which stated that Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa entered Syria from Iraq alongside a group of men, including Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaybani. This claim is false, as Al-Shaybani never fought in Iraq.

Our team contacted journalist Hussam Jazmati, an expert on Islamist groups, who confirmed that Al-Shaybani never traveled to Iraq or fought alongside any faction there. Instead, he initially worked with– the now dissolved– Jabhat Al-Nusra as a media figure and video editor, specifically within the so-called "Al-Manara Al-Bayda" Foundation, stating that  Mr. Al-Shaybani did not enter Syria from Iraq with Al-Sharaa.

Along the same lines, claims alleged that President Ahmed Al-Sharaa stated on the podcast that Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaybani was among the six men who entered Syria with him from Iraq. However, this too is false.

Verify Syria found that the journalists did not attribute this claim directly to Al-Sharaa. Instead, their discussion appeared to be a personal reflection, suggesting either an inference or information they had independently while talking about the close relationship between Al-Sharaa and Al-Shaybani. This discussion occurred between minute 46:56 and 47:20 of the podcast, during which Alastair Campbell made the following statement in English.

“But when he did cross the border with a handful of people, very interesting, one of them was the foreign minister that I mentioned who we met in Davos and he was in the room while the interview was going on, and they are clearly very very close; I mean they were talking before; they were talking afterwards, and the fact that he was there, so I think that’s a very interesting and important relationship that people will be keeping an eye on as it were.”

At minute 9:50 of the podcast, Al-Sharaa spoke about the period when he entered Syria, stating:

"I had set some conditions beforehand. The first was that we would not repeat the Iraq experience in Syria. We would not engage in any form of sectarian war; our focus would be solely on fighting the regime. I came to Syria with a small group of people—we were about five or six. Within a year, that number grew to 5,000.

Who is Asaad Al-Shaybani?

Asaad Hassan Al-Shaybani was born in Al-Hasakah in 1987 and later moved with his family to Damascus. He graduated from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Damascus University, specializing in English Language and Literature, in 2009, according to the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Al-Shaybani joined the Syrian revolution from its inception in 2011 and remained active throughout its various phases. He contributed to the establishment of the Syrian Salvation Government and founded the Political Affairs Administration.

In 2022, he obtained a Master’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from Turkey, and he is currently pursuing a PhD in the same field. Additionally, he has completed the final stage of an MBA (Master of Business Administration) at the American University.

1. The claim that Al-Shaybani entered Syria with Al-Sharaa upon his return from fighting in Iraq is false.
2. Al-Shaybani never fought in Iraq or engaged in combat there against any party.
3. The claim that British journalists attributed this statement to Al-Sharaa is also false.
4. The journalists mentioned the claim during their discussion without stating that it came from Al-Sharaa himself.
5. This claim has been categorized under "Lie" according to Verify Syria methodology.