Jolani’s road to Damascus has been long. He has talked openly about his change along the way. From young al Qaeda fighter two decades ago, to rebel commander espousing sectarian tolerance.

Syria’s new interim leader announced on Tuesday he was taking charge of the country as caretaker prime minister with the backing of the former rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad.In a brief address on state television,

Israeli warplanes struck scores of targets across Syria overnight as Israel Defense Forces stepped up its campaign to degrade the fighting capability of Syrian and Iranian forces that could pose a threat to Israel.