United States President Donald Trump has held talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House, as the Department of the Treasury announced suspending sanctions against Damascus for a further six months.<\/p>\n
The meeting on Monday<\/a> capped a stunning year for al-Sharaa, a 43-year-old former al-Qaeda commander who toppled<\/a> the longtime hardline leader of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, last December.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n Al-Sharaa, who wants to unify his war-ravaged nation and end its decades of international isolation, was the first ever Syrian leader to visit the White House since the country\u2019s independence in 1946.<\/p>\n The Syrian presidency said al-Sharaa and Trump held talks \u201cfocusing on bilateral relations between Syria and the United States, ways to strengthen and develop them, and a number of regional and international issues of common interest\u201d.<\/p>\n For his part, Trump heaped praise on al-Sharaa after the meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cHe comes from a very tough place, and he\u2019s a tough guy. I like him,\u201d Trump said of the Syrian president.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll do everything we can to make Syria successful, because that\u2019s part of the Middle East. We have peace now in the Middle East \u2013 the first time that anyone can remember that ever happening.\u201d<\/p>\n But Trump also gave a nod to al-Sharaa\u2019s controversial past. \u201cWe\u2019ve all had rough pasts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Al-Sharaa later told Fox News that his association with al-Qaeda was a matter of the past and was not discussed during his meeting with Trump. Syria is now seen as a geopolitical ally of Washington and not a threat, he added.<\/p>\n \u2018Muted welcome\u2019<\/p>\n The meeting between the two leaders came six months after their first meeting in Saudi Arabia, where Trump announced plans to lift sanctions, and just days after the US said that al-Sharaa was no longer<\/a> a \u201cSpecially Designated Global Terrorist\u201d.<\/p>\n Al-Sharaa, who was captured by US forces in Iraq during Washington\u2019s occupation of the country, later led al-Qaeda\u2019s branch in Syria.<\/p>\n His group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, split from al-Qaeda<\/a> in 2016. But the US, less than a year ago, had a $10m reward for information leading to al-Sharaa\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n Since removing al-Assad, al-Sharaa has further reinvented his image, dropping the name he was also known as, Abu Mohammed al-Julani, for his birth name and promoting a tolerant and inclusive Syria. The interim leader addressed<\/a> the United Nations General Assembly earlier this year, saying that his country is \u201creclaiming its rightful place among the nations of the world\u201d and has sought to strengthen economic ties with the US and the European Union.<\/p>\n Still, al-Sharaa received a muted welcome at the White House on Monday. He entered the White House through a side door and was not greeted by Trump outside. And there was no photo opportunity in front of the press or joint news conference between the two leaders.<\/p>\n As al-Sharaa left the compound, he exited his motorcade just in front of the White House and briefly greeted a cheering crowd of supporters, some waving Syrian flags.<\/p>\n Shortly afterwards, a senior US official told The Associated Press and AFP news agencies that Syria has formally confirmed that it would join the global coalition against the armed group ISIL (ISIS), becoming its 90th member.<\/p>\n The official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the US would also allow Syria to resume operations at its embassy in Washington so the two countries can better coordinate on counterterrorism, security and economic issues.<\/p>\n There was no immediate comment from the Syrian government.<\/p>\n Such a move could pave the way for the withdrawal of US troops from the country.<\/p>\n Just hours before the landmark talks, word emerged of two separate ISIL plots to assassinate al-Sharaa that had been foiled over the last few months, according to a senior Syrian security official and a senior Middle Eastern official.<\/p>\n Over the weekend, the Syrian Ministry of Interior launched a nationwide campaign targeting ISIL cells across the country, arresting more than 70 suspects, state media said.<\/p>\n \u2018Chance at greatness\u2019<\/p>\n The new sanctions relief announced by Washington on Monday suspends punitive measures under the Caesar Act<\/a>, which prohibited US business dealings with the Syrian government and military, for an additional 180 days.<\/p>\n \u201cRemoving US sanctions will support Syria\u2019s efforts to rebuild its economy, provide prosperity for all its citizens, including its ethnic and religious minorities, and combat terrorism,\u201d the US Treasury Department said in a statement.<\/p>\n It added that Trump is \u201cdelivering on his commitment to give Syria \u2018a chance at greatness\u2019 and to let them rebuild and thrive by lifting US sanctions and ensuring accountability for harmful actors\u201d.<\/p>\n While the Caesar Act sanctions are currently waived by Trump, a permanent repeal would require Congress to act.<\/p>\n One option is a proposal from Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, that would end the sanctions without any conditions. The other was drafted by Senator Lindsey Graham, a hawkish Trump ally who wants to set conditions for a sanctions repeal that would be reviewed every six months.<\/p>\n But Syria advocates argue that any repeal with conditions would prevent companies from investing in Syria because they would fear potentially being sanctioned.<\/p>\n Mouaz Moustafa, the executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, likened it to a \u201changing shadow that paralyses any initiatives for our country\u201d.<\/p>\n Israel ties<\/p>\n Al-Sharaa, who arrived in Washington, DC, on Sunday, also met with Congressman Brian Mast<\/a>, chair of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee and one of the most staunchly pro-Israel politicians in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cLast evening, the new Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and I broke bread. We had a long and serious conversation about how to build a future for the people of Syria free of war, ISIS, and extremism,\u201d Mast, who previously wore an Israeli army uniform to Congress and argued that there are no innocent Palestinian civilians, said in a statement.<\/p>\n The Republican congressman is reported to be sceptical of the push to lift sanctions against Syria.<\/p>\n