Syrian president arrives in U.S. for assembly with Trump

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived within the U.S. on Saturday for forward of his landmark assembly with President Trump, his nation’s state information company reported, a day after Washington eliminated him from a terrorism blacklist.

Al-Sharaa, whose insurgent forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad late final yr, is because of meet Mr. Trump on the White Home on Monday.

It is the primary such go to by a Syrian president because the nation’s independence in 1946, in accordance with analysts. Al-Sharaa addressed the United Nations Basic Meeting in New York Metropolis in September. 

The interim chief met Mr. Trump for the primary time in Riyadh throughout Mr. Trump’s Center East tour in Could.

U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack mentioned earlier this month that al-Sharaa would “hopefully” signal an settlement to affix the worldwide U.S.-led alliance in opposition to the Islamic State.

The State Division’s determination Friday to delist al-Sharaa as international terrorist was broadly anticipated.

State Division spokesman Tommy Pigott mentioned in an announcement al-Sharaa’s authorities had been assembly U.S. calls for together with on working to search out lacking People and on eliminating any remaining chemical weapons.

“These actions are being taken in recognition of the progress demonstrated by the Syrian management after the departure of Bashar al-Assad and greater than 50 years of repression below the Assad regime,” Pigott mentioned.

The spokesman added that the U.S. delisting would promote “regional safety and stability in addition to an inclusive, Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political course of.”

Al-Sharaa joined al Qaeda about 20 years in the past, and was arrested in Iraq in 2005. He spent six years in American and Iraqi prisons earlier than his launch in 2011. He then led an affiliate of al Qaeda in Syria, and was designated as a terrorist by the U.S. in 2013. In 2016, he renounced his allegiance to al Qaeda. 

In November 2024, al-Sharaa led opposition forces in a shocking offensive that toppled the Assad regime.

In an interview with “60 Minutes” final month in Syria, al-Sharaa mentioned that “there are whole generations” of Syrians “which have suffered super psychological trauma” below the Assad regime.