Trump to host Syria’s al-Sharaa for talks at White House in November

This month, Donald Trump will meet with Syria’s interim leader for talks in what would be the first time a president has visited the US capital.

Asaad al-Shaibani, the foreign minister of Syria, stated in a speech on Sunday that the visit will help to “open a new chapter” between Damascus and Washington.

Al-Shaibani stated in his speech in Bahrain that “President Ahmed al-Sharaa will be present at the White House at the beginning of November.” This is undoubtedly a historic visit. A Syrian president has made his first White House appearance in more than 80 years.

The lifting of sanctions and the opening of a new chapter between the United States and Syria will bring up a number of issues. We want to form a strong partnership between the two nations.

The US envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, was earlier quoted by the US news website Axios as saying that during his visit, al-Sharaa is expected to sign a deal to join an international US-led alliance against the ISIL (ISIS).

Trump and a meeting

Al-Sharaa, who seized Bashar al-Assad’s presidency in December, has been attempting to re-establish relations with international powers that had favored Damascus under al-Assad’s rule.

In their first meeting in 25 years, he and Trump met in Saudi Arabia in May.

A Syria that is still adapting to life after more than 50 years of the al-Assad family’s rule was the subject of the meeting, which took place on the sidelines of Trump’s get-together with the Gulf Cooperation Council leaders.

Al-Sharaa also addressed the September UN General Assembly in New York.

He once oversaw al-Qaeda’s offshoot in Syria. His anti-Assad organization disbanded the network and later clashed with ISIL ten years ago. Al-Sharaa once had a head-mounted $10 million US reward.

Before starting the Syrian war, the president of the country had fought alongside American forces in Iraq. He even spent a number of years in the US military there.

ISIL was driven out of its most recent stronghold in Syria in 2019 by the US-led coalition and its regional partners.

After Israel and Hamas last month began implementing a ceasefire and captives exchange, Trump is urging Middle East allies to seize the opportunity to create a lasting peace in the region. The two-year Israeli occupation of Gaza will be ended in full with the signing of that agreement.

The fragile ceasefire is still in effect, but the situation is still unrestable.