Trump meets Syrian president, says he is looking into normalising ties

(Reuters): United States President Donald Trump met with Syria’s president in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, after a surprise US announcement it would lift all sanctions on the Islamist-led government, and said Washington was exploring the possibility of normalising ties with Damascus.

He made the comments during a summit between the US and Gulf Arab countries. Trump met Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa before the summit. Photos posted on Saudi state television showed them shaking hands in the presence of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince.

Trump also urged Sharaa to normalise ties with Israel, a White House spokesperson said.

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, after a surprise US announcement it would lift all sanctions on the Islamist-led government, and said Washington was exploring the possibility of normalising ties with Damascus.

He made the comments during a summit between the US and Gulf Arab countries. Trump met Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa before the summit. Photos posted on Saudi state television showed them shaking hands in the presence of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince.

Trump also urged Sharaa to normalise ties with Israel, a White House spokesperson said.

Despite concerns within sectors of his administration over Syria’s leaders’ former ties to Al Qaeda, Trump said on Tuesday during a speech in Riyadh he would lift sanctions on Syria in a major policy shift.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan joined Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MbS, virtually in the meeting, Anadolu News Agency reported.

MbS told the summit Saudi Arabia commends Trumps decision to lift sanctions on Syria.

The lifting of sanctions came despite deep Israeli suspicion of Sharaa’s administration, worries initially shared by some US officials. Israeli officials have continued to describe Sharaa as a jihadist, though he severed ties with al Qaeda in 2016. Israel’s government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The decision is a major boost for Sharaa, who has been struggling to bring the country under the control of the Damascus government after toppling former President Bashar al-Assad in December.

The challenges were laid bare in March when Assad loyalists attacked government forces, prompting revenge attacks in which Islamist gunmen killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite minority, drawing strong US condemnation.

Trump is on a four-day visit to the oil-rich Gulf states that includes stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

Trump’s first day of a four-day swing through the Gulf region was marked by lavish ceremony and business deals, including a $600 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest in the US and $142 billion in US arms sales to the kingdom.

Later today, Trump will fly to the Qatari capital Doha, where he will participate in a state visit with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and other officials. Qatar, a key US ally, is expected to announce hundreds of billions of dollars in investments in the US.

US ally Israel has opposed sanctions relief for Syria, but Trump on Tuesday said that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who are both close to the US president, encouraged him to make the move.

Former Al Qaeda commander

Sharaa was for years the leader of al Qaeda’s official wing in the Syrian conflict. He first joined the group in Iraq, where he spent five years in a US prison. The United States removed a $10 million bounty on Sharaa’s head in December.

His interactions with Sharaa, who led rebel forces that toppled former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December, will be closely watched as observers gauge how serious Washington is about resetting its relationship with Damascus.

Sharaa renounced ties to Al Qaeda in 2016.