US President Donald Trump played host to Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the White House, welcoming the once-pariah state into a U.S.-led global coalition.
It is the first visit to the White House by a Syrian head of state since the Middle Eastern country gained independence from France in 1946.
Al-Sharaa, also known by the name Abu Mohammed al-Golani, arrived at the White House mid-morning and began his Oval Office meeting shortly afterwards.
The new Syrian leader led the rebel forces that toppled Syrian president Bashar Assad last December and was named the country’s interim leader in January.
But the new world leader has faced scrutiny over his ties to al-Qaeda. He also once had a £7.6million bounty on his head.
Despite this, the US president described al-Sharaa as a ‘young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past, very strong past. Fighter.’
Who is Al-Sharaa?
Born in Saudi Arabia, al-Sharaa grew up in a middle-class family before returning to Syria and living in Damascus.
He studied at Damascus University for two years before moving to Iraq in 2003 without telling his family.
There, he joined the forces of al-Qaeda’s branch in Iraq and was arrested by US forces. After his release in 2011, he was sent back to Syria to establish al-Qaeda’s branch there.
After years spent rallying for the extremist cause, Al-Sharaa began showing more signs of moderate politics and started ‘distancing’ himself from more extremist points of view.
He was a member of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (translating to the Organisation for the Liberation of Syria), which was born out of the popular uprising in Syria in 2011, when peaceful protests against the regime triggered a brutal crackdown that led to civil war.
In 2023, Al-Sharaa allowed the first Christian mass to be held in years in the city of Idlib. And as the world watched his soldiers sweep to victory this week, he promised to protect Syria’s Christian communities.
When the Assad regime fell last December, it was Al-Sharaa who was chosen as the interim leader of the new Syrian government after ousting the dictator.
A significant meeting
It was the first official encounter between the US and Syria since 2000, when then-president Bill Clinton met Hafez Assad, the father of Bashar Assad.
Trump has recently said that al-Sharaa is ‘doing a very good job so far’ and that a ‘lot of progress has been made with Syria’ since the US eased sanctions.
One official with knowledge of the administration’s plans said Syria’s entry into the global coalition fighting ISIS will allow it to work more closely with US forces, although the new Syrian military and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the country’s northeast had already been fighting the group.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.