U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to do everything he can to make Syria successful after landmark talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al Qaeda commander who until recently was sanctioned by Washington as a foreign terrorist.
Sharaa’s visit capped a stunning year for the rebel-turned-ruler who toppled longtime autocratic leader Bashar al-Assad and has since travelled the world trying to depict himself as a moderate leader who wants to unify his war-ravaged nation and end its decades of international isolation.
One of Sharaa’s chief aims in Washington was to push for full removal of the toughest U.S. sanctions.
While he met with Trump behind closed doors, the U.S. Treasury Department announced a 180-day extension of its suspension of enforcement of the so-called Caesar sanctions, but only the U.S. Congress can lift them entirely.
Trump met with Sharaa in the first-ever visit by a Syrian president to Washington, six months after their first meeting in Saudi Arabia, where the U.S. leader announced plans to lift sanctions, and just days after the U.S. said he was no longer a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist.”
In an unusually muted welcome, Sharaa, who once had a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head, arrived without the fanfare usually given to foreign dignitaries.
He entered through a side door where reporters only got a glimpse instead of through the West Wing main door where cameras often capture Trump greeting VIPs.
Speaking to reporters, Trump praised Sharaa as a “strong leader” and voiced confidence in him. “We’ll do everything we can to make Syria successful,” he said.
But Trump also gave a nod to Sharaa’s controversial past. “We’ve all had rough pasts,” he said.
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Promising “continued sanctions relief,” the Treasury Department announced a new order to replace its May 23 waiver on enforcement of the 2019 Caesar Act, which imposed sweeping sanctions over human rights abuses under Assad. The move essentially extended the waiver by another 180 days,
Sharaa, 43, took power last year after his Islamist fighters launched a lightning offensive and overthrew longtime Syrian President Assad just days later on December 8th.
Syria has since moved at a dizzying pace, away from Assad’s key allies Iran and Russia and toward Turkey, the Gulf and Washington.
Security was also expected to be a top focus of Sharaa’s meeting with Trump, who in a major U.S. policy shift has sought to help Syria’s fragile transition.
The U.S. is brokering talks on a possible security pact between Syria and Israel, which remains wary of Sharaa’s former militant ties.
Syria recently signed a political cooperation declaration with the U.S.-led “Global Coalition to Defeat Islamic State,” the Syrian information minister said in a post on X.
As Sharaa left the compound, he exited his motorcade just in front of the White House and briefly greeted a cheering crowd of supporters, some waving Syrian flags.
Sharaa was expected to strongly advocate for a repeal of the Caesar Act, which will help spur global investment in a country ravaged by 14 years of war and which the World Bank estimates will take more than $200 billion to rebuild.
Several influential members of Congress have called for the lifting of the 2019 Caesar sanctions, passed in response to human rights abuses under Assad.
A few of Trump’s fellow Republicans want the sanctions to stay in place, but that could change if Trump applies pressure.
Syria’s social fabric has been more recently tested. New bouts of sectarian violence left more than 2,500 dead since Assad’s fall, deepening civil war wounds and putting into question the new rulers’ ability to govern for all Syrians.
Trump’s focus on Syria comes as his administration seeks to keep intact a U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas militants and push forward on his 20-point plan for an end to the two-year-old war there.
Reuters/Hauwa M.