Trump meets Syria's new guide in Saudi Arabia

Riad, Saudi Arabia (AP) -US President Donald Trump On Wednesday in Saudi Arabia in Saudi Arabia, the first encounter between the leaders of the two nations for 25 years with the Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, could be a turning point for Syria, as it is striving to come from decades of international isolation.

The meeting on the outskirts of Trump's meeting with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council marks a large turn for a Syria that adapts to life after more than 50 years. With iron -cut rule of the Assad familyAnd for his new guide, who once had a bounty of $ 10 million for his arrest.

Trump praised Al-Sharaa Reporter after the meeting on Air Force One and said he was a “young, attractive type. Hard guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter.”

Under the Nom de Guerre Abu Mohammed al-GolaniAl-Sharaa had connections to al-Qaida and joined the insurgents who fought against the US forces in Iraq before entering the Syrian War, which he was arrested there by US troops for several years.

“He has a real shot to keep it together,” said Trump. “He is a real leader. He led an indictment and he is pretty amazing.”

Trump had announced the day before when he started his three-nation-near-cost tour in Riad that he would also pull Lift US sanctions that have been imposed Syria Under the stopped autocrat Bashar Assad.

People throughout Syria cheered on the streets And on Tuesday evening to celebrate a fireworks out of the way to celebrate that their nation – which are blocked from credit cards and global finances – could agree with the global economy if they need the most urgent investments.

The meeting found the meeting, after the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Trump had previously asked not to raise sanctions against Syria, and again underlining growing dissatisfaction between the White House and the Israeli government as His war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip is on.

I order “the attitude of sanctions against Syria to give them a fresh start,” said Trump to the Gulf Cooperation Council after meeting Al-Sharaa. “There is a chance for size. The sanctions were really paralyzing, very powerful.”

Trump said Al-Sharaa agreed to join the Abraham Agreement and finally recognize Israel, but Syria did not confirm that. Trump said to reporters: “I think they have to keep up with. I told him:” I hope you will participate if it is aligned. “He said:” Yes. “But you still have a lot to do.”

A historical meeting with closed doors

Trump said on Tuesday that he would meet Al-Sharaa, who had flown to the Saudi capital for the face to face.

Even before his ruinous civil war, which began in 2011, Syria had had a state terror sponsor under a strictly controlled socialist economy and under sanctions of the United States under a strictly controlled socialist economy.

The Trump-Al-Sharaa meeting took place behind closed doors. The White House later said that it ran a little more than 30 minutes and made Al-Sharaa the first Syrian leader to hit an American president since Hafez Assad Bill Clinton scored in Geneva in 2000.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined the meeting between Trump, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Al-Sharaa. Turkey was a main consultant of Al-Sharaa and his rebel faction.

“I was very strong that this would give them a chance,” said Trump about Syria. “It won't be easy anyway, so you have a good chance. And it was an honor for me to do this.”

What happened in the meeting?

The press spokesman for the White House, Karoline Leavitt, said in an explanation that Trump asked Al-Sharaa to recognize Israel diplomatically: “Say all foreign terrorists to leave Syria” and to help the USA to stop the resumption of the Islamic state group.

Trump, a Republican, also asked the Syrian government to take on “responsibility” for over a dozen adhesioning agencies in which around 9,000 alleged members of the Islamic state group held, added Leavitt. The prisons are conducted by the forces supported by the United States and Kurdish, which led the military campaign against the extremists, and controlled the last property they once had in March 2019.

As part of an agreement that was achieved between the Syrian government and the Kurdish armed forces in March, all border crossings with Iraq and Turkey, airports and oil fields in the northeast would be brought under the control of the central government until the end of the year.

Trump's desire for Syria to take over the prisons The potential of a complete American military withdrawal from Syria.

Syria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Trump and Al-Sharaa discussed the Syrian partnership to combat terror and armed groups how they stand in the way of stability.

Al-Sharaa's militant past triggers the Israeli concern

Al-Sharaa was appointed Interim President of Syria in January, one month after an impressive offensive of insurgent groups under the direction of al-Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-ShamOr HTS that stormed Damascus and end the Assad family's 54-year rule.

Many Arab leaders of Golf have gathered behind the new government in Damascus and want Trump to follow because they believed that it was a bulwark against the Iranian return to the influence in Syria, where Assad's government presented it during a decadelon civil war.

But the long-time US allied Israel was deeply skeptical about Al-Sharaa's extremist past and warned of a rapid recognition of the new government. When visiting Netanyahu in Washington, the request took place last month, according to an Israeli official who spoke about the condition of anonymity.

Israel feared a cross -border attack like similar to Hamas' 7. October 2023, attack Could come from Syria. Israel also fears that Al-Sharaa and his Islamist past could be a threat to its northern border.

Trump's move attracts cheers from Syrians

The Syrians have cheered on Trump's announcement that the United States will increase the sanctions against the besieged nation of the Middle East.

The state-led news agency of Sana published video and photos of Syrians, which cheered on Umayyad-Platz, the largest in the capital of the country, Damascus. Others honked their autohorns or waved the new Syrian flag to celebrate.

People whistled and cheered when the fireworks shed light on the night sky.

An explanation from the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the announcement “a decisive turning point for the Syrian people when we try to emerge from a long and painful chapter of the war”.

“The removal of these sanctions offers Syria an important opportunity to pursue stability, self -sufficiency and meaningful national reorganization, led by and for the Syrian people,” added the explanation.

___

Madhani reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press photographer Alex Brandon and writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey; Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel and Bassem Moue in Beirut contributed to this report.