Trump hosts Syrian leader for first White House meeting
President Donald Trump is hosting Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the White House, welcoming the once pariah state to the U.S.-led global coalition to fight the Islamic State group.
Al-Sharaa arrived at the White House a little after 11:30 a.m. local time on Monday and began the Oval Office meeting shortly thereafter.
The meeting was closed to the press, and the Syrian President entered the building from West Executive Boulevard adjacent to the White House, rather than from the West Wing driveway used for the arrival of other foreign leaders.
This is the first visit to the White House by a Syrian head of state since the Middle Eastern country gained independence from France in 1946.
This comes after the United States lifted sanctions on Syria that it had imposed during the decades when the country was ruled by the Assad family.
Al-Sharaa led rebel forces that ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last December and was named the country’s interim leader in January.
Trump and al-Sharaa, who once had ties to al-Qaeda and has a US$10 million ($15 million) US bounty on his head, first met in Saudi Arabia in May.
At the time, the US president described Al Shara as “a young, attractive man. Tough guy. Strong past, very strong past. Warrior.”
It was the first official confrontation between the United States and Syria since 2000, when then-President Bill Clinton met with Bashar al-Assad’s father, Hafez al-Assad.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday’s visit was “part of the president’s diplomatic efforts to meet with all who seek peace around the world.”
Trump, a Republican, recently said Al Shara has “done a very good job so far” and that “there’s been a lot of progress on Syria” since the U.S. eased sanctions.
Syria joining the global coalition fighting the Islamic State group would allow it to work more closely with U.S. forces, although the new Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the country’s northeast are already fighting the group, an official familiar with the administration’s plans said.
Before al-Shara came to the United States, the United Nations Security Council voted to lift sanctions against the Syrian President and other government officials, according to U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz.
Al-Sharaa comes to the meeting with his own priorities.
It wants the permanent lifting of sanctions punishing Syria for widespread allegations of human rights abuses by Assad’s government and security forces.
Although Caesar Act sanctions have now been repealed by Trump, Congressional action would be required for permanent repeal.
One option is a proposal from New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, that would end sanctions unconditionally.
The other was drafted by Trump’s hawkish ally, Senator Lindsey Graham, who wants to set conditions for lifting sanctions that would be reviewed every six months.
But advocates argue that repealing the conditions would prevent companies from investing in Syria because they would fear potential sanctions.
Mouaz Moustafa, director general of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, likened it to “a hanging shadow that paralyzes any initiative for our country.”
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