- First Syrian presidential visit to the United States since 1946.
- The Trump-Sharaa meeting at the White House is scheduled for Monday.
- The United States hopes that Syria will join the coalition against ISIS.
WASHINGTON: Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in the United States on Saturday for a historic official visit, his country’s official news agency reported, a day after Washington removed him from a terrorism blacklist.
Sharaa, whose rebel forces toppled longtime leader Bashar al-Assad late last year, is scheduled to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.
It is the first such visit by a Syrian president since the country’s independence in 1946, analysts say.
The interim leader first met Trump in Riyadh during the US president’s regional tour in May.
US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said earlier this month that Sharaa would “hopefully” sign a deal to join the US-led international alliance against ISIS.
The United States plans to establish a military base near Damascus “to coordinate humanitarian aid and monitor developments between Syria and Israel,” a diplomatic source in Syria said. AFP.
Friday’s decision by the State Department to remove Sharaa from the blacklist was widely expected.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said Sharaa’s government had responded to U.S. requests, including working to find missing Americans and eliminate any remaining chemical weapons.
“These actions are taken in recognition of the progress demonstrated by Syrian leaders following the departure of Bashar al-Assad and more than 50 years of repression under the Assad regime,” Pigott said.
The spokesperson added that delisting the United States would promote “regional security and stability and an inclusive, Syrian-led and owned political process.”
Transformation
Sharaa’s trip to Washington follows his historic visit to the United Nations in September – his first time on American soil – where he became the first Syrian president in decades to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
On Thursday, Washington led a vote in the Security Council to lift UN sanctions against him.
Formerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda, Sharaa’s group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was removed from the list of terrorist groups by Washington as recently as July.
Since coming to power, Syria’s new leaders have sought to break with their violent past and present a more tolerable moderate image in the eyes of ordinary Syrians and foreign powers.
The visit to the White House “is further evidence of America’s commitment to the new Syria and an extremely symbolic moment for the country’s new leader, marking another milestone in his astonishing transformation from activist leader to global statesman,” said Michael Hanna, director of the International Crisis Group’s US program.
Sharaa is expected to seek funds for Syria, which faces significant reconstruction challenges after 13 years of brutal civil war.
In October, the World Bank estimated the cost of rebuilding Syria at $216 billion, a “conservative best estimate.”
