Soon after President Donald Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the White House said he was prepared to meet with Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former al-Qaeda and Islamic State lieutenant who has governed Syria since his insurgent alliance toppled dictator Bashar Assad in December.
President Trump said on Tuesday he was willing to lift sanctions on Syria. Sharaa was very eager to meet with Trump, having offered oil and gas deals to the United States, peace with Israel, and even permits for a new Trump Tower in Damascus if President Trump would receive him. The White House said Sharaa would travel to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for the meeting.
Sharaa and his insurgent group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), have struggled to convince the West they are a new breed of kinder, gentler Islamists who would set aside their old jihadi and terrorist ways to govern Syria responsibly. Sharaa desperately wants Western nations to lift the sanctions that were imposed on Syria during Assad’s long and brutal war to stay in power, so that postwar rebuilding can begin in earnest. Western leaders have been very wary around embracing the former al-Qaeda man who now styles himself as the “interim president” of Syria. When Sharaa visited Paris in early May to meet with President Emmanuel Macron, the French opposition criticized Macron for betraying “all victims of jihadism” by greeting the Syrian leader with a “handshake of shame.” (Read More)
