Trump meets with Syria’s insurgent-turned-leader in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump met with interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, the first encounter between the two nations’ leaders in 25 years and one that could mark a turning point for Syria as it struggles to emerge from decades of international isolation.

The meeting, on the sidelines of Trump’s get-together with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, marks a major turn of events for a Syria still adjusting to life after the over 50-year, iron-gripped rule of the Assad family.

Trump praised al-Sharaa to reporters after the meeting on Air Force One, saying he was a “young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter.”

Under the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, al-Sharaa had ties to al-Qaida and joined insurgents battling U.S. forces in Iraq before entering the Syrian war He was even imprisoned by U.S. troops there for several years.

“He’s got a real shot at holding it together,” Trump said. “He’s a real leader. He led a charge and he’s pretty amazing.”

Trump had announced the day before as he kicked off his three-nation Middle East tour in Riyadh that he would also move to lift U.S. sanctions imposed on Syria under the deposed autocrat Bashar Assad.

People across Syria cheered in the streets and set off fireworks on Tuesday night to celebrate, hopeful their nation — locked out of credit cards and global finance — might rejoin the world’s economy when they need investments the most.

The meeting came even after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier asked Trump not to lift sanctions on Syria, again underscoring a growing discontent between the White House and the Israeli government as its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip rages on.

I am “ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria to give them a fresh start,” Trump told the Gulf Cooperation Council after his meeting with al-Sharaa. “It gives them a chance for greatness. The sanctions were really crippling, very powerful.”

Trump said al-Sharaa had agreed to join the Abraham Accords and eventually recognize Israel, but Syria hasn’t confirmed that. Trump told reporters, “I think they have to get themselves straightened up. I told him, ‘I hope you’re going to join when it’s straightened out.’ He said, ‘Yes.’ But they have a lot of work to do.”

A historic closed-door meeting

Trump said on Tuesday that he would meet al-Sharaa, who had flown in to the Saudi capital for the face-to-face.

Even before its ruinous civil war that began in 2011, Syria struggled under a tightly controlled socialist economy and under sanctions by the U.S. as a state-sponsor of terror since 1979.

The Trump-al-Sharaa meeting took place behind closed doors and reporters were not permitted to witness the engagement. The White House later said it ran for just over 30 minutes, making al-Sharaa the first Syrian leader to meet an American president since Hafez Assad met Bill Clinton in Geneva in 2000.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined the meeting between Trump, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and al-Sharaa via a phone call. Turkey was a main backer to al-Sharaa and his rebel faction.

“I felt very strongly that this would give them a chance,” Trump said of Syria. “It’s not going to be easy anyway, so gives them a good strong chance. And, it was my honor to do so.”

He added: “We made a speech last night and, that was the thing that got the biggest applause from the room.”

Trump cited the intervention of Saudi Prince Mohammed as key to his decision.

“We commend the decision made yesterday by President Trump to lift the sanctions on the brotherly Syrian Arab Republic, which will alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people,” he said in a speech to the GCC.

What happened in the meeting?

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that Trump urged al-Sharaa to diplomatically recognize Israel, “tell all foreign terrorists to leave Syria” and help the U.S. stop any resurgence of the Islamic State group.

Trump also asked for the Syrian government to “assume responsibility” for over a dozen detention centers 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 military campaign against the extremists and controlled the last sliver of land they once held in March 2019.

As part of a deal reached in March between the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led forces, all border crossings with Iraq and Turkey, airports and oil fields in the northeast would be brought under the central government’s control by the end of the year.

Trump’s desire for Syria to take over the prisons also signal the potential of a full American military withdrawal from Syria.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry said Trump and al-Sharaa discussed the Syrian-U.S. partnership in fighting terror and armed groups such as IS standing in the way of stability.

Al-Sharaa’s militant past sparks Israeli concern

Al-Sharaa was named interim president of Syria in January, a month after a stunning offensive by insurgent groups led by al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, that stormed Damascus, ending the 54-year rule of the Assad family.

Many Gulf Arab leaders have rallied behind the new government in Damascus and want Trump to follow, believing it is a bulwark against Iran’s return to influence in Syria, where it had helped prop up Assad’s government during a decadelong civil war.

But longtime U.S. ally Israel has been deeply skeptical of al-Sharaa’s extremist past and cautioned against swift recognition of the new government. The request came during Netanyahu’s visit to Washington last month, according to an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the subject.

Israel was concerned a cross-border attack similar to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault, could come from Syria. Israel also fears al-Sharaa and his Islamist past could pose a threat on its northern border.

Trump’s move draws cheers from Syrians

Syrians cheered the announcement by Trump that the U.S. will move to lift sanctions on the beleaguered Middle Eastern nation.

The state-run SANA news agency published video and photographs of Syrians cheering in Umayyad Square, the largest in the country’s capital, Damascus. Others honked their car horns or waved the new Syrian flag in celebration.

People whistled and cheered as fireworks lit the night sky.

A statement from Syria’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday night called the announcement “a pivotal turning point for the Syrian people as we seek to emerge from a long and painful chapter of war.”

“The removal of these sanctions offers a vital opportunity for Syria to pursue stability, self-sufficiency and meaningful national reconstruction, led by and for the Syrian people,” the statement added.

___

Madhani reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated 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.

Zeke Miller, Jon Gambrell And Aamer Madhani, The Associated Press