Trump meets with Syrian President Sharaa in Riyadh: report

RIYADH (REUTERS): US President Donald Trump is meeting Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa ahead of the GCC summit in Riyadh on Wednesday, a day after announcing that the United States was lifting sanctions on Syria, a pool report from The Washington Post said.

The announcement came despite concerns within parts of Trump’s administration because Sharaa was previously designated a terrorist by Washington due to past links to Al Qaeda.

US ally Israel has opposed sanctions relief for Syria, but Trump on Tuesday said that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who are both close to the US president, encouraged him to make the move.

Trump is on a four-day visit to the oil-rich Gulf states that includes stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

Trump’s first day of a four-day swing through the Gulf region was marked by lavish ceremony and business deals, including a $600 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest in the US and $142 billion in US arms sales to the kingdom.

Later today, Trump will fly to the Qatari capital Doha, where he will participate in a state visit with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and other officials. Qatar, a key US ally, is expected to announce hundreds of billions of dollars in investments in the US.

US ally Israel has opposed sanctions relief for Syria, but Trump on Tuesday said that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who are both close to the US president, encouraged him to make the move.

Former Al Qaeda commander

His interactions with Sharaa, a former Al Qaeda commander who led rebel forces that toppled former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December, will be closely watched as observers gauge how serious Washington is about resetting its relationship with Damascus.

Sharaa renounced ties to Al Qaeda in 2016.