Trump welcomes Syria’s Sharaa in 1st-of-its-kind go to : NPR

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is internet hosting Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on the White Home on Monday, welcoming the once-pariah state right into a U.S-led world coalition to battle the Islamic State group.

Al-Sharaa arrived on the White Home slightly after 11:30 a.m. and started his Oval Workplace assembly shortly after. The assembly is closed to the press, and the Syrian president entered the constructing by way of West Government Avenue, adjoining to the White Home, slightly than on the West Wing driveway used for different international leaders’ arrivals.

It is the primary go to to the White Home by a Syrian head of state for the reason that Center Jap nation gained independence from France in 1946 and comes after the U.S. lifted sanctions imposed on Syria throughout the a long time the nation was dominated by the Assad household. Al-Sharaa led the insurgent forces that toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad final December and was named the nation’s interim chief in January.

Trump and al-Sharaa — who as soon as had ties to al-Qaida and had a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head — first met in Might in Saudi Arabia. On the time, the U.S. president described al-Sharaa as a “younger, enticing man. Powerful man. Robust previous, very robust previous. Fighter.” It was the primary official encounter between the U.S. and Syria since 2000, when then-President Invoice Clinton met with Hafez Assad, the daddy of Bashar Assad.

White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned Monday’s go to is “a part of the president’s efforts in diplomacy to fulfill with anybody around the globe within the pursuit of peace.”

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa appears to be like on throughout a press convention in Ankara, Turkey, Feb. 4.

Francisco Seco/AP

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Francisco Seco/AP

Trump, a Republican, has lately mentioned that al-Sharaa is “doing an excellent job up to now” and {that a} “lot of progress has been made with Syria” for the reason that U.S. eased sanctions.

One official with data of the administration’s plans mentioned Syria’s entry into the worldwide coalition combating the Islamic State group will enable it to work extra intently with U.S. forces, though the brand new Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces within the nation’s northeast had already been combating the group.

Earlier than al-Sharaa’s arrival within the U.S., the United Nations Safety Council voted to carry sanctions on the Syrian president and different authorities officers in a transfer that the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Mike Waltz, mentioned was a powerful signal that Syria is in a brand new period for the reason that fall of Assad.

Al-Sharaa comes into the assembly together with his personal priorities. He needs a everlasting repeal of sanctions that punished Syria for widespread allegations of human rights abuses by Assad’s authorities and safety forces. Whereas the Caesar Act sanctions are at present waived by Trump, a everlasting repeal would require Congress to behave.

Motiah Boustany, of Charlestown, W.Va., holds a banner depicting Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa exterior of the White Home, as al-Sharaa meets with President Donald Trump, Monday, in Washington.

Jacquelyn Martin/AP

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Jacquelyn Martin/AP

One possibility is a proposal from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the highest Democrat on the Senate Overseas Relations Committee, that might finish the sanctions with none circumstances. The opposite was drafted by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a hawkish Trump ally who needs to set circumstances for a sanctions repeal that might be reviewed each six months.

However advocates argue that any repeal with circumstances would stop corporations from investing in Syria as a result of they’d concern probably being sanctioned. Mouaz Moustafa, government director of the Syrian Emergency Process Drive, likened it to a “hanging shadow that paralyzes any initiatives for our nation.”