Trump welcomes Syria’s Sharaa in 1st-of-its-kind visit : NPR

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump hosted Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the White House on Monday, welcoming the once rogue state into the U.S.-led global coalition against the Islamic State group.

Al-Sharaa arrived at the White House around 11:30 a.m. and shortly thereafter began a meeting in the Oval Office that remained closed to the press. The Syrian president entered the building through West Executive Avenue adjacent to the White House, rather than through the West Wing access road used for the arrival of other foreign leaders. He left the White House about two hours later and greeted a crowd of supporters gathered outside before boarding his motorcade.

It was the first visit to the White House by a Syrian head of state since the Middle Eastern country gained independence from France in 1946, and came after the United States lifted sanctions imposed on Syria during decades when the country was ruled by the Assad family. Al-Sharaa led the rebel forces that overthrew Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last December and was named the country's interim leader in January.

Trump and al-Sharaa, who was once linked to al-Qaeda and has a $10 million bounty on his head, first met in May in Saudi Arabia. At the time, the US President described al-Sharaa as “a young, attractive guy. Cool guy. A strong past, a very strong past. Fighter”. It was the first official meeting between the US and Syria since 2000, when then-President Bill Clinton met with Hafez al-Assad, the father of Bashar al-Assad.

White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt said Monday's visit is “part of the president's diplomatic efforts to meet with all people around the world in the pursuit of peace.”

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa looks on during a news conference in Ankara, Türkiye, February 4.

Francisco Seco/AP

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Francisco Seco/AP

Trump, a Republican, recently said al-Sharaa is “doing very well so far” and that there has been “great progress with Syria” since the US eased sanctions.

One official familiar with the administration's plans said Syria's inclusion in the global coalition fighting the Islamic State group would allow it to work more closely with U.S. forces, although the new Syrian military and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the northeast were already fighting the group.

Before al-Sharaa arrived in the US, the UN Security Council voted to lift sanctions on the Syrian president and other government officials, which US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said was a strong sign that Syria had entered a new era after the fall of Assad.

Al-Sharaa comes to the meeting with his own priorities. He wants the permanent lifting of sanctions that have punished Syria over widespread allegations of human rights abuses by Assad's government and security forces. Although Trump has now lifted the Caesar Act sanctions, permanently lifting them would require Congress to take action.

Motia Bustani of Charlestown, West Virginia, holds a banner of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa outside the White House as al-Sharaa meets with President Donald Trump on Monday in Washington.

Jacqueline Martin/AP

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Jacqueline Martin/AP

One option is a proposal from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, that would end sanctions without conditions. The other was drafted by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a hawkish Trump ally who wants to set conditions for lifting sanctions that would be reviewed every six months.

But advocates argue that any lifting of the terms would discourage companies from investing in Syria as they fear potential sanctions. Muaz Mustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, likened it to “a hanging shadow that paralyzes any initiative of our country.”