Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met with President Trump at the White House on Monday, where the former leader of an al Qaeda affiliate was expected to sign a pledge to combat terrorism in the region.
It is a stunning reversal for Mr. al-Sharaa, who until last week the U.S. branded as an international terrorist, which also had placed a $10 million bounty on his head.
Mr. al-Sharaa has disavowed Islamic extremism since rising to lead Syria, which has been battered by war for decades. He led a rebel militia force last year to oust longtime dictator Bashar Assad, who is in exile in Russia.
During Mr. al-Sharaa’s visit to the White House, the first ever by a Syrian president, he was expected to join a U.S.-led global coalition to defeat the Islamic State, which would mark a significant shift in U.S. foreign policy.
Speaking with reporters after the meeting, Mr. Trump said an announcement on Syria would be coming, but did not say if Mr. al-Sharaa signed the anti-terrorism pact.
“We want to see Syria become a country that’s very successful and I think this leader can do it. I really do,” Mr. Trump said. “People said he’s had a rough past. We all have rough pasts, but he has a rough past. And I think, frankly, if you didn’t have a rough past, you wouldn’t have a chance,” the president said. “We have to make Syria work. Syria is a big part of the Middle East and I will tell you, I think this is working really well.”
Mr. al-Sharaa’s own former militia, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, opposed the Islamic State during Syria’s 14-year civil war.
The Islamic State flourished and grew into one of the world’s most powerful terrorist organizations under the Assad regime. At one point, it controlled a huge swath of land spanning the Syria-Iraq border.
Mr. al-Sharaa and Mr. Trump have met three times. After their first meeting in Saudi Arabia in May, Mr. Trump called him a “young, attractive guy, tough guy, strong past.”
He is also the first Syrian president to play basketball with the U.S. military. Video shared Saturday by the Syrian foreign ministry showed him hitting a three-pointer as he shot hoops with a U.S. admiral and brigadier general at an undisclosed U.S. location.
Ahead of Mr. al-Sharaa’s arrival in Washington, the Trump administration has removed sanctions on him and Syria’s interior minister, Anas Khattab.
The removal of sanctions follows Mr. Trump’s executive order in May that lifted most of the U.S. economic sanctions on Syria. Mr. Trump scrapped decades of U.S. policy toward Syria and lifted the sanctions on a surprise trip to the Middle East, where he met with Mr. al-Sharaa.
The stiff U.S. sanctions imposed during the harsh rule of Mr. Assad, which dates back more than 20 years, kept would-be investors on the sidelines. Syria’s Arab neighbors and others have been eagerly awaiting to begin reconstructing Syria, a project that would create a financial windfall for developers.
