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Donald Trump asks Syrian president to join Abraham Accords with Israel

This is the first time a US president has met with a Syrian leader in 25 years.

Donald Trump's meeting with Ahmed al Sharaa in Saudi Arabia.

Donald Trump's meeting with Ahmed al Sharaa in Saudi Arabia.AFP

Juan Peña
Published by
Juan Peña

Donald Trump continues his Middle East tour, which began Tuesday in Saudi Arabia. A day after signing Saudi investment deals for U.S. industry, the president has addressed the Gulf Cooperation Council summit and met with Syria's President Ahmed al Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohamed al Golani.

The meeting with al Sharaa is the first by a U.S. president with a Syrian leader in 25 years. The last time it occurred was when Bill Clinton occupied the Oval Office and his counterpart was Bashar Assad's father.

It lasted little more than half an hour, but it is a clear commitment by the Administration to normalize relations with Syria, as well as a victory for the new government headed by Al Sharaa and its international supporters.

As confirmed by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the Crown Prince to the Saudi throne, Mohamed bin Salman, and the President of Turkey, Recep Tayip Erdogan, joined the meeting between Trump and Al Sharaa. In the case of the Turk, it was done via video call.

Ahmed al Sharaa's terrorist past

Al Sharaa, who has a jihadist past, was in a US prison in Iraq and for a time led an Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, seized power in Damascus last December at the head of a coalition of rebel forces that in a lightning campaign of 11 days overthrew Bashar al Asad.

Ahead of Wednesday's meeting, Donald Trump announced the day before that his Administration will lift its sanctions against the Syrian government. Turkey, like Syria, has reacted positively to this news, which they have described as a "turning point."

According to Leavitt, the president has conveyed a series of conditions to the new Syrian government as requirements for continuing on the path of normalization of relations. The Trump Administration intends for Syria to adhere to the Agreement of Abraham, the covenant normalizing peace relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Leavitt also cited the need to force "all foreign terrorists" to leave Syria, the deportation of "Palestinian terrorists," cooperation with the United States for the fight against ISIS and finally taking responsibility for ISIS detention centers in northeastern Syria.

Still according to the White House statement, Al Sharaa offered Syria as a link to "facilitate trade between East and West" and invited U.S. companies to invest in Syrian oil and gas.

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