Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara met with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, capping an extraordinary period for the 42-year-old rebel-ruler.
Less than a year ago, al-Sharaa led Islamist fighters from Syria’s northwest in a massive offensive that ousted Bashar Assad after 14 years of civil war.
He was the first Syrian head of state to visit the White House.
What did Trump and Shaara discuss?
SHARA was intended to be a complete lifting of US sanctions, but following his closed-door meeting with Trump, Treasury extended the suspension of Caesars sanctions for 180 days. Only Congress can lift them completely.
Trump later said that Shaara “comes from a very tough place,” adding that the Syrian leader Trump is a “tough guy” and “I like him.”
“We will do everything possible to make Syria successful because it is part of the Middle East.”
The pair first met six months ago at the Gulf Security Summit in Riyadh.
According to diplomatic sources, the US is mediating a potential security agreement between Syria and Israel and is considering a small military presence at the Damascus airbase.
Trump, who recently lifted most US sanctions on Syria, said before the meeting that “a lot of progress has been made with Syria” and praised al-Sharaa as “a tough guy in a tough neighborhood.”
What is happening in Syria right now?
Al-Sharaa’s government has been tightening control in the face of renewed sectarian unrest that has killed more than 2,500 people since Assad’s fall. Two Islamic State plots to assassinate him were reportedly foiled in recent months, prompting a nationwide crackdown on the group.
However, doubters of the Syrian leader have pointed to a wave of sectarian violence in which pro-government Sunni gunmen have killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite and Druze minorities.
Edited by: Dmytro Lyubenko