Trump Says He Will Ease Sanctions On Syria, Restore Relations With New Leader | EUROtoday

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — President Donald Trump mentioned Tuesday that he’ll ease sanctions on Syria and transfer to normalize relations with its new authorities to provide the nation “a chance at peace.”

Trump made the announcement shortly earlier than he was set to satisfy Wednesday in Saudi Arabia with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the onetime rebel who final 12 months led the overthrow of longtime chief Bashar Assad. Trump mentioned the trouble at rapprochement got here on the urging of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi de facto ruler, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“There is a new government that will hopefully succeed,” Trump mentioned of Syria, including, “I say, good luck, Syria. Show us something special.”

The developments have been a significant enhance for the Syrian president, who had been imprisoned in Iraq for his function within the insurgency following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of the Arab nation. Al-Sharaa was named 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.

The U.S. has been weighing deal with al-Sharaa since he took energy in December. Gulf leaders have rallied behind the brand new authorities in Damascus and need Trump to observe, believing it’s a bulwark towards Iran’s return to affect in Syria, the place it had helped prop up Assad’s authorities throughout a decadelong civil battle.

Then-President Joe Biden left the choice to Trump, whose administration has but to formally acknowledge the brand new Syrian authorities. Sanctions imposed on Damascus beneath Assad additionally stay in place.

Before Trump spoke, the White House mentioned he had “agreed to say hello” to the Syrian president whereas in Saudi Arabia.

The feedback marked a putting change in tone from Trump and put him at odds with longtime U.S. ally Israel, which has been deeply skeptical of al-Sharaa’s extremist previous and cautioned towards swift recognition of the brand new authorities.

Formerly identified by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, al-Sharaa joined the ranks of al-Qaida insurgents battling U.S. forces in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion and nonetheless faces a warrant for his arrest on terrorism expenses in Iraq. The U.S. as soon as provided $10 million for details about his whereabouts due to his hyperlinks to al-Qaida.

Al-Sharaa got here again to his dwelling nation after the battle started in 2011 and led al-Qaida’s department that was once generally known as the Nusra Front. He later modified the title of his group to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and minimize hyperlinks with al-Qaida.

He is ready to change into the primary Syrian chief to satisfy an American president since Hafez Assad met Bill Clinton in Geneva in 2000.

Syria has traditionally had fraught relations with Washington because the days of the Cold War, when Damascus had shut hyperlinks with the Soviet Union and later when Syria turned Iran’s closest ally within the Arab world. The removing of the Assad household might change the observe.

Ibrahim Hamidi, a London-based Syrian analyst, mentioned Trump’s deliberate assembly with al-Sharaa marks a “strategic shift” for the nation.

“The Syrian-American meetings in Riyadh open the gate for the two sides to start discussing issues of disagreement between them in a positive atmosphere,” mentioned Hamidi, editor-in-chief of the Arab journal Al Majalla. “This is important.”