Washington DC – (Special Correspondent / Web Desk) – Syria’s President Ahmed Al-Sharaa arrived in the United States on Saturday for a historic official visit, his country’s state news agency announced, a day after Washington removed him off a terrorism blacklist.
Sharaa, whose forces deposed long-time tyrant Bashar Assad late last year, is scheduled to meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.
Analysts say it’s the first such visit by a Syrian president since the country gained independence in 1946.
The interim leader met Trump for the first time in Riyadh during the US president’s regional tour last May.
Washington’s envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, said earlier this month that Sharaa would “hopefully” sign an agreement to join the international US-led alliance against the Daesh group.
The United States plans to establish a military base near Damascus “to coordinate humanitarian aid and observe developments between Syria and Israel,” a diplomatic source in Syria said.
The State Department’s decision Friday to remove Sharaa from the blacklist was widely expected.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said Sharaa’s government had been meeting US demands including on working to find missing Americans and on eliminating any remaining chemical weapons.
“These actions are being taken in recognition of the progress demonstrated by the Syrian leadership after the departure of Bashar Assad and more than 50 years of repression under the Assad regime,” Pigott said.
Pakistan slams Taliban for delaying talks, demands action
The spokesman added that the US delisting would promote “regional security and stability as well as an inclusive, Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process.”
The Syrian interior ministry announced on Saturday that it had carried out 61 raids and made 71 arrests in a “proactive campaign to neutralize the threat” of Daesh, according to the official SANA news agency.
It said the raids targeted locations where IS sleeper cells remain, including Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Homs, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa and Damascus.
After his arrival, Sharaa met with representatives from Syrian organizations in Washington, according to his country’s official media.
The Syrian foreign minister posted a social media video, filmed before Sharaa’s departure, of him playing basketball with CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper and Kevin Lambert, the head of the international anti-Daesh operation in Iraq, alongside the caption “work hard, play harder.”
Sharaa’s Washington trip comes after his landmark visit to the United Nations in September – his first time on US soil – where the ex-militant became the first Syrian president in decades to address the UN General Assembly in New York.
On Thursday, Washington led a vote by the Security Council to remove UN sanctions against him.
Formerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda, Sharaa’s group, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), was delisted as a terrorist group by Washington as recently as July.
Since taking power, Syria’s new leaders have sought to break from their violent past and present a moderate image more tolerable to ordinary Syrians and foreign powers.
The White House visit “is further testament to the US commitment to the new Syria and a hugely symbolic moment for the country’s new leader, who thus marks another step in his astonishing transformation from militant leader to global statesman,” according to International Crisis Group US program director Michael Hanna.
Sharaa is anticipated to seek financial assistance for Syria, which has tremendous obstacles in reconstructing after 13 years of civil conflict.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia finalise Hajj 2026 arrangements
In October, the World Bank put a “conservative best estimate” of the cost of rebuilding Syria at $216 billion.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.