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Essam al-Buwaydhani
Syrian rebel leader (1971–present) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Essam al-Buwaydhani (also rendered as Issam Bouidani[1]), better known by his kunya Abu Hammam (Arabic: أبو همام البويضاني) is a Syrian military officer and former rebel leader. He was reportedly born in Douma and was a businessman by profession.[2] He was elected leader of Jaysh al-Islam after Zahran Alloush, the previous leader of the group, was killed in a Syrian Air Force air strike in December 2015.[3]
Following the fall of the Assad regime, Buwaydhani and other rebel leaders, met with Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham head Ahmed al-Sharaa in December 2024 at a conference in Damascus, where they agreed to dissolve their factions.[4] Buwaydhani then became an official in the Ministry of Defense.[5]
He was appointed by the transitional government to lead the 70th Division of the Syrian Army, which operates in the eastern Rif Dimashq Governorate.[1][6][7]
On 24 April 2025, Buwaydhani was arrested at Dubai International Airport while exiting the United Arab Emirates. He was reported to have entered the country for private reasons using a Turkish passport.[5][7]
On 22 September 2025, the family of Buwaydhani, along with a group of citizens, held a protest in front of the United Arab Emirates embassy in Damascus, calling for his release following his detention several months earlier at an airport in the UAE.[8][9]
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