By ZEKE MILLER, JON GAMBRELL and AAMER MADHANI, Related Press
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump met with interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, the primary encounter between the 2 nations’ leaders in 25 years and one that might mark a turning level for Syria because it struggles to emerge from a long time of worldwide isolation.
The assembly, on the sidelines of Trump’s get-together with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, marks a serious flip of occasions for a Syria nonetheless adjusting to life after the over 50-year, iron-gripped rule of the Assad household.
Trump had introduced the day earlier than as he kicked off his three-nation Center East tour in Riyadh that he would additionally transfer to carry U.S. sanctions imposed on Syria beneath the deposed autocrat Bashar Assad.
Individuals throughout Syria cheered within the streets and set off fireworks on Tuesday evening to have a good time, hopeful their nation — locked out of bank cards and international finance — may rejoin the world’s economic system after they want investments probably the most.
Wednesday’s assembly was additionally outstanding given al-Sharaa, beneath the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, had ties to al-Qaida and joined insurgents battling U.S. forces in Iraq earlier than getting into the Syrian warfare. He was even imprisoned by U.S. troops there for a number of years.
And the assembly got here even after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier requested Trump to not carry sanctions on Syria, once more underscoring a rising discontent between the White Home and the Israeli authorities as its warfare on Hamas within the Gaza Strip rages on.
I’m “ordering the cessation of sanctions in opposition to Syria to offer them a recent begin,” Trump instructed the Gulf Cooperation Council after his assembly with al-Sharaa. “It offers them an opportunity for greatness. The sanctions have been actually crippling, very highly effective.”
A historic closed-door assembly
Trump stated on Tuesday that he would meet al-Sharaa, who had flown in to the Saudi capital for the face-to-face.
Even earlier than its ruinous civil warfare that started in 2011, Syria struggled beneath a tightly managed socialist economic system and beneath sanctions by the U.S. as a state-sponsor of terror since 1979.
The Trump-al-Sharaa assembly happened behind closed doorways and reporters weren’t permitted to witness the engagement. The White Home later stated it ran for simply over half-hour, making al-Sharaa the primary Syrian chief to satisfy an American president since Hafez Assad met Invoice Clinton in Geneva in 2000.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined the assembly between Trump, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and al-Sharaa through a telephone name. Turkey was a primary backer to al-Sharaa and his insurgent faction.
“I felt very strongly that this is able to give them an opportunity,” Trump stated of Syria. “It’s not going to be straightforward anyway, so offers them sturdy likelihood. And, it was my honor to take action.”
He added: “We made a speech final evening and, that was the factor that obtained the largest applause from the room.”
Trump cited the intervention of Saudi Prince Mohammed as key to his choice.
“We commend the choice made yesterday by President Trump to carry the sanctions on the brotherly Syrian Arab Republic, which can alleviate the struggling of the Syrian folks,” he stated in a speech to the GCC.
What occurred within the assembly?
White Home Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated in a press release that Trump urged al-Sharaa to diplomatically acknowledge Israel, “inform all international terrorists to go away Syria” and assist the U.S. cease any resurgence of the Islamic State group.
Trump additionally requested for the Syrian authorities to “assume accountability” for over a dozen detention facilities holding some 9,000 suspected members of the Islamic State group, Leavitt added. The prisons are run by the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led forces that spearheaded the army marketing campaign in opposition to the extremists and managed the final sliver of land they as soon as held in March 2019.
As a part of a deal reached in March between the Syrian authorities and the Kurdish-led forces, all border crossings with Iraq and Turkey, airports and oil fields within the northeast could be introduced beneath the central authorities’s management by the top of the 12 months.
Trump’s want for Syria to take over the prisons additionally sign the potential of a full American army withdrawal from Syria.
Syria’s International Ministry stated Trump and al-Sharaa mentioned the Syrian-U.S. partnership in combating terror and armed teams similar to IS standing in the way in which of stability.
Al-Sharaa’s militant previous sparks Israeli concern
Al-Sharaa was named interim president of Syria in January, a month after a surprising offensive by rebel teams led by al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, that stormed Damascus, ending the 54-year rule of the Assad household.
Many Gulf Arab leaders have rallied behind the brand new authorities in Damascus and need Trump to observe, believing it’s a bulwark in opposition to Iran’s return to affect in Syria, the place it had helped prop up Assad’s authorities throughout a decadelong civil warfare.
However longtime U.S. ally Israel has been deeply skeptical of al-Sharaa’s extremist previous and cautioned in opposition to swift recognition of the brand new authorities. The request got here throughout Netanyahu’s go to to Washington final month, based on an Israeli official who spoke on situation of anonymity to debate the topic.
Israel was involved a cross-border assault much like Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault, may come from Syria. Israel additionally fears al-Sharaa and his Islamist previous may pose a menace on its northern border.
Trump’s transfer attracts cheers from Syrians
Syrians cheered the announcement by Trump that the U.S. will transfer to carry sanctions on the beleaguered Center Jap nation.
The state-run SANA information company revealed video and pictures of Syrians cheering in Umayyad Sq., the biggest within the nation’s capital, Damascus. Others honked their automobile horns or waved the brand new Syrian flag in celebration.
Individuals whistled and cheered as fireworks lit the evening sky.
An announcement from Syria’s International Ministry on Tuesday evening referred to as the announcement “a pivotal turning level for the Syrian folks as we search to emerge from a protracted and painful chapter of warfare.”
“The elimination of those sanctions presents a significant alternative for Syria to pursue stability, self-sufficiency and significant nationwide reconstruction, led by and for the Syrian folks,” the assertion added.
Madhani reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Related Press photographer Alex Brandon and writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey; Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.
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