Omar Diyabi: The dark story of the French jihadist leader in Syria
The French newspaper Libération spent a day at a camp set up by Omar Diyabi (alias Omar Umsin ), a man living near Idlib and accused of smuggling hundreds of young French people to Syria in the 2010s. Described for years by French intelligence as the "charlotte of jihad," Diyabi is reportedly still commanding dozens of followers, has a strained relationship with the new Damascus government, and continues to defy France. So who is this Omar Diyabi?
A camp is hidden in a rocky valley near Harim, a few kilometers from the Turkish border. When Libération reporters arrive at the gate, an unexpected voice rises from inside: “Bonjour?”
The man in his late forties, wearing knee-length trousers and a safari hat, answers the door. He is the founder of a network that recruits fighters from France to Syria. Arriving on his electric scooter, Diyabi introduces himself as “ the leader of a society under construction .” “Everyone will have a home here. I live with my four wives and children, so my house needs to be a bit bigger,” he says. The camp is surrounded by adobe shacks and scrap materials. To Diyabi, this is “the settlement of the future.”
Born and raised in the Ariane neighborhood of Nice, Diyabi was involved in armed robberies as a youth and then briefly ran a sandwich shop. He rose to prominence in the early 2010s with his online religious propaganda videos. These videos influenced some young people in France, and Diyabi quickly became a target of intelligence surveillance.
He crossed into Syria in 2013 and founded a group called "Firkat al-Ghuraba" (Foreigners' Brigade). Initially affiliated with al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, al-Nusra Front, he later parted ways with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). He now lives with about 70 other fighters and their families in a valley near the Turkish border.
“We sell scrap metal and raise animals,” he says, adding: “They ask me to make YouTube videos, but they don’t know that I already do this job under a pseudonym, and those who tell me to ‘do it, do it’ are already paying me.”
Speaking to Libération, a French mother named Marianne describes how her 18-year-old son fell under the influence of Omar Diyabi and went to Syria in 2013. "My son and his friends would gather at this man's shop. He influenced them for years. The state knew, but did nothing," she says.
Marianne says she still texts her son today and sees her grandchildren only through video calls: "I tried to get him to come back, but Omer's influence is too strong."
Former French President François Hollande, speaking to Libération, argued that legal measures were put in place to prevent the departures in 2013, saying, "We have never had a 'let them go' policy. On the contrary, we have criminalized these situations."
According to Hollande, the US failure to intervene in Syria in 2013 “left many young people vulnerable to radical propaganda.”
Secret correspondence obtained by Libération reveals Diyabi's methods of manipulation, both religious and psychological. A female activist named "Maïlis," whose real name has been changed for security reasons, infiltrated Diyabi's network under a false identity between 2017 and 2018.
In reality, "Maïlis" was a member of an independent cyber-activist group monitoring jihadist circles in Europe online. She introduced herself as a 24-year-old midwife who, frustrated by her father's oppression, wanted to turn to religion. Diyabi quickly believed her story—even saying he wanted to marry her.
As the correspondence progressed, Diyabi's true nature emerged. Behind the jihadist rhetoric lay a controlling and sexually violent language. He told women, "You must be obedient, you must submit to your husband," and used religious commandments as a cover for his personal desires. Maïlis told Libération, "For him, jihad is not a belief; it's ego gratification. He wants to control women with a religious shield."
Diyabi proposed an online "marriage": "A formality beloved by Allah," he said, wanting to complete the "marriage" with a few minutes of words. He then moved on to sexual threats, writing, "I will punish you when you come."
At this point, Maïlis ended the game. He sent Diyabi a message saying, "The state is watching me, I can't continue," and cut off communication. The data he collected during that period revealed the kind of manipulation network Diyabi had established.
According to the activist, Diyabi is "a small-time narcissistic con artist. He uses jihad to gain money and power over women. He has no cause to believe in; he acts like an actor on stage."
Over the years, some people have escaped from Diyabi's group. In 2023, a young man named "Victor" crossed into France via Turkey, taking his three-year-old daughter with him. However, upon his return, he was arrested on charges of "membership in a terrorist organization" and faces up to 30 years in prison.
According to French judicial sources, many families fled the country between 2012 and 2016. Today, French intelligence has identified at least six individuals attempting to join Diyabi's camp.
According to French diplomatic sources, Paris does not want to take these individuals back and prefers "that Damascus try them according to its own laws."
Ömer Diyabi, who was arrested by HTS for a period, continues to be defiant after his release; he says, “They can’t stop me, there are many people behind me.”
Some French fighters in his camp are seeking citizenship from the new Syrian government. However, experts say this creates a new security dilemma for France. This isolated community, located in a small valley in northern Syria, continues to exert its ideological influence even if it doesn't return to Europe.
In the interview, he blames both the new leader in Damascus and the West, saying, "He either deceived us, the mujahideen, or you, the Westerners." In messages published on his Telegram channel, he accuses Sharaa of "perpetrating one of the greatest betrayals since the beginning of Islamic history."
According to Diyabi, Ahmed al-Shara is “sacrificing Islam in the name of reconciliation with the West.”
The move he most strongly criticizes is the reduction of religious instruction in schools and its replacement with music education. He describes this change as a "symbol of secularization" and threatens that "the Syrian regime will be forced to implement sharia."
Diyabi said, “If the people consent to democracy, this would mean submitting to the West,” adding that in such a situation, “the Syrians will take up arms again and they will help.”
This discourse embodies both personal anger towards former members of HTS and represents an ideological resistance to the reform initiatives of the new Damascus administration.
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