Trump meets Syria’s al-Sharaa, eyes normalisation of ties with Damascus

US president says ‘all sanctions’ connected Damascus volition beryllium dropped, aft talks with Saudi and Turkish leaders.

United States President Donald Trump says Washington is considering the normalisation of ties with Damascus aft helium met Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the archetypal specified brushwood betwixt the 2 nations’ leaders successful 25 years.

Trump made the announcement connected Wednesday astatine a gathering with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders successful Saudi Arabia’s superior Riyadh, during which helium besides said the US volition driblet “all sanctions” against Syria.

“With the enactment of the large leaders successful this room, we are presently exploring normalising relations with Syria’s caller government,” Trump said, confirming his little gathering with al-Sharaa.

The “cessation of sanctions” volition springiness Syria “a caller start”, Trump said.

“We volition beryllium dropping each sanctions.”

The US president said helium conferred with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan connected Wednesday astir the lifting of sanctions.

He said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio volition beryllium gathering with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani successful Turkiye to further sermon US-Syria relations.

In a statement, the White House said that during the meeting, Trump asked al-Sharaa to deport Palestinians it described arsenic “terrorists”, “sign onto the Abraham Accords with Israel” and “assume work for ISIS detention centres successful northeast Syria.”

On Tuesday night, Trump had announced helium was lifting sanctions connected the war-battered country, drafting a immense applause from Arab leaders and celebrations successful the streets crossed Syria.

Trump’s announcement marks a large crook of events for a state inactive adjusting to beingness aft much than 50 years of iron-gripped regularisation of the al-Assad family.

Bashar al-Assad was toppled successful December aft a lightning violative by absorption fighters led by al-Sharaa’s forces.

Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Riyadh, described Trump’s announcement and his gathering with al-Sharaa arsenic important developments.

“This is simply a monolithic breakthrough, giving the caller authorities successful Syria much legitimacy internationally,” our analogous said.

He said Trump’s determination would apt besides pave the mode for the GCC to perpetrate much fiscal assistance to the authorities successful Syria, noting that US sanctions had antecedently held them backmost from investing.

Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan, who is reporting from Damascus, said the gathering betwixt Trump and al-Sharaa, which lasted for 33 minutes, was a large diplomatic breakthrough for Saudi Arabia.

“For the archetypal clip successful 25 years, a Syrian president has met with an American president. That successful itself is precise historic.”

Later connected Wednesday, Trump volition alert to the Qatari superior Doha, wherever helium volition enactment successful a authorities sojourn with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and different officials.

Qatar, a cardinal US ally, is expected to denote hundreds of billions of dollars successful investments successful the US.

While the precise details of the investments Qatar plans to denote were unclear, Qatar Airways was expected to denote a woody to bargain astir 100 widebody jets from Boeing, according to the Reuters quality agency.

Trump’s archetypal 2 days of a four-day plaything done the Gulf portion person been marked by lavish ceremonies and concern deals, including a $600bn committedness from Saudi Arabia to put successful the US and $142bn successful US arms income to the kingdom.

Following his sojourn to Qatar, Trump volition alert to Abu Dhabi to conscionable the UAE leaders connected Thursday.

He is past slated to alert backmost to Washington connected Friday, but helium has said helium could alert to Turkiye alternatively for a imaginable gathering betwixt Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, amid efforts to halt the warfare successful Ukraine.

Source

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies