Riyadh (TDI): US President Donald Trump met with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa ahead of the GCC summit in Riyadh on Wednesday, a day after announcing that Washington was lifting sanctions on Syria.
The meeting came despite concerns within segments of Trump’s administration, as Sharaa had previously been designated a terrorist by the United States due to his past ties with Al Qaeda, according to US media reports.
Israel, a close ally of US, has opposed sanctions relief for Syria, but Trump on Tuesday said that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, encouraged him to make the move.
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His meeting with Sharaa, a former Al Qaeda commander who led rebel forces in Syria that ousted ex-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December, is being being closely observed as analysts gauge how serious US is about resetting its ties with Syria. Sharaa ended ties to Al Qaeda in 2016.
Trump is on a four-day tour to the oil-rich Gulf nations, which scheduled stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE.
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Trump’s first day of an important tour to the Gulf region was marked by lavish ceremony and lucrative business agreements, including a $600 billion investment commitment from Riyadh and $142 billion US arms deal to the kingdom.
Later today, Trump will be travelling to Doha, Qatar, where he will meet with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and high officials. Qatar, a major US ally, is likely to announce hundreds of billions of dollars in investments in the United States.
Farkhund Yousafzai is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
