Syria to join coalition to defeat IS group after Trump meeting
A senior Trump administration official has confirmed that Syria will join the international coalition to fight the Islamic State group, marking a shift in US foreign policy in the Middle East.
The announcement came as President Donald Trump met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara at the White House; this was the first such visit by a Syrian leader in the country’s history.
In an interview with Fox News, al-Sharaa said the visit was part of a “new era” in which the country would cooperate with the United States.
Trump has expressed support for Al Shara, which until recently was designated a terrorist by the US government.
Syria will now become the 90th country to join the global coalition aimed at eliminating remaining elements of the so-called Islamic State and stemming the flow of foreign militants to the Middle East.
Following the meeting, a senior administration official confirmed that the US Treasury Department, along with the state and commerce departments, would announce new measures to lift economic restrictions on Syria and provide “compliance clarity for investors.”
As part of the measures, the administration plans to suspend the Caesar Act, which has imposed sanctions on the former Syrian government since 2019, for 180 days.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office a few hours after the meeting, Trump said, “We want to see Syria become a very successful country.”
“And I think this leader can do that,” he added. “It really is.”
Diplomatic relations between Syria and the United States have been suspended since 2012, but the United States will now allow Syria to reopen its embassy in Washington.
This is the third meeting between the two leaders, following a dinner on the sidelines of the Gulf Cooperation Council in May and during the UN General Assembly in September.
Al-Sharaa’s visit to the White House represents a remarkable rebranding for the former jihadist.
He recently led a branch of Al Qaeda, the group behind the September 11 attacks and many other attacks, before severing ties.
In fact, until this year, he was the leader of the armed Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which the United States officially recognized as a terrorist organization until four months ago, and a $10 million bounty was placed on his head.
Just last week, the Treasury Department removed al-Sharaa from its “designated global terrorist list.”
But since becoming Syria’s interim president, Al Shara has sought to soften his public image as he seeks to rebuild Syria with foreign support after 13 years of war.
“He’s had a difficult past,” Trump said Monday. “And frankly, if you didn’t have a difficult past, I don’t think you would have had a chance.”
In his interview, al-Sharaa said he and Trump did not discuss the past, but instead focused on the “present and future” of Syria, of which Washington is a “geopolitical” and economic partner.
But Al-Sharaa’s rule has been marred by the killing of Syria’s Alawite minority, as well as deadly violence between Sunni Bedouin fighters and Druze militias.
He promised to root out members of the security forces who commit human rights abuses.
Trump, for his part, has repeatedly expressed his support for al-Sharaa, referring to him as a “young, attractive man” and a “fighter.”
In June, President Trump signed an executive order lifting sanctions on Syria, which the White House said would help support the country’s “path to stability and peace.”
At the time, the administration said it would monitor the actions of the new Syrian government, including “taking steps to normalize relations with Israel” and fighting against “foreign terrorists” and militant groups operating in the country.
