Trump meets with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa after U.S. removes him from terrorist record

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa met President Trump on the White Home on Monday, persevering with a surprising reversal of fortunes for a person branded till three days in the past as a global terrorist by the U.S. authorities with a $10 million bounty on his head.

The previous chief of an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria disavowed Islamic extremism after rising to guide his war-torn nation. Almost a yr in the past, he led his insurgent militia to power long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad out of workplace and into exile in Russia.

Syria was crippled for many years underneath sanctions imposed by the U.S. and different nations towards Assad, and Al-Sharaa is now in search of to normalize relations.

A senior administration official confirmed to CBS Information on Monday that Syria can be becoming a member of the U.S.-led International Coalition To Defeat ISIS, marking a major shift in U.S. overseas coverage. Al-Sharaa’s personal former militia, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, opposed ISIS in the course of the latter years of Syria’s 14-year civil conflict, when he glided by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani.

He was anticipated to presumably signal a proper settlement with President Trump throughout their in particular person assembly on Monday — which can be their third thus far — to cooperate on counterterrorism. That may be a extremely symbolic second, indicating a 180-degree turnaround in how Syria is considered by the U.S. authorities.

Beneath Assad about 12 years in the past, ISIS was allowed to develop and metastasize into one of the crucial highly effective terrorist organizations on this planet. At one level, it managed an enormous swath of land spanning the Syria-Iraq border.

After assembly Al-Sharaa for the primary time in Saudi Arabia in Might, Mr. Trump referred to as the Syrian chief a “younger, engaging man, robust man, robust previous.”

Over the weekend, he additionally turned the primary Syrian chief to shoot some hoops with the U.S. army. Video shared Saturday by the Syrian overseas ministry reveals him nailing a three-pointer as he performs with a U.S. admiral and a brigadier normal at an undisclosed location within the U.S. 

However till Friday morning, the Syrian president was nonetheless formally designated a terrorist by the U.S. authorities, as he had been since 2013. That designation was lifted by the tip of the day.

There was anticipated to presumably be dialogue on the White Home on Monday in regards to the official lifting of U.S. financial sanctions towards Syria, which Mr. Trump put in movement in Might with an govt order.

That order eliminated sanctions on Syria, “whereas sustaining sanctions on the previous president, Assad, his associates, human rights abusers, drug traffickers, individuals linked to chemical weapons actions, ISIS and their associates, and Iranian proxies,” White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated in June. 

Al-Sharaa’s transitional authorities has pushed the Trump administration for sanctions aid for months, and work had been underway to ease some sanctions even earlier than the president’s Might announcement, however different measures nonetheless have to be formally revoked by Congress.

In an obvious bid to indicate its willpower to crack down on ISIS and different extremists, the Syrian authorities introduced that greater than 70 alleged members of the group had been detained simply hours earlier than al-Sharaa landed in Washington.

In September, addressing the U.N. Normal Meeting in New York — one other landmark second because it had been almost six a long time since a Syrian chief had achieved so — Al-Sharaa informed the gathered leaders that his nation was “reclaiming its rightful place among the many nations of the world.” 

However to reclaim its place, it additionally must rebuild — a herculean activity that Al-Sharaa just lately informed CBS Information’ Margaret Brennan in an interview for 60 Minutes will possible price $600-$900 billion. 

He confused that it might require the worldwide neighborhood’s assist.

“The world watched this tragedy unfold for 14 years and could not do something to cease this large crime,” he stated of the Syrian civil conflict. “So, the world as we speak ought to present help to Syria.”

On Monday, he was prone to ask the chief of the world’s wealthiest nation to assist nevertheless he can.