US President Donald Trump landed in Doha on Wednesday after visiting Riyadh, where he urged Syria’s president to normalise with Israel after offering a major boost to the war-ravaged country by vowing to lift sanctions.
Trump became the first US president in 25 years to meet a Syrian leader — Ahmed al-Sharaa, an erstwhile Islamist guerrilla and onetime jihadist who had been on a US wanted list and led the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December.
The interim Syrian president and Trump, wearing matching suits, shook hands as they met jointly in Riyadh with Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and, by video link, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — the key supporter of the new government in Damascus.
While aboard Air Force One en route to Qatar, Trump poured praise on Sharaa, saying the meeting went “great” and describing the leader as a “young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter.”
Turkey and Saudi Arabia had both advocated reconciliation with Syria, but the move is the latest to put Trump at odds with Israel, which has expressed deep scepticism of Sharaa and ramped up its military strikes against Syria to degrade its longtime adversary’s military capabilities.
When asked if Sharaa said he’d join the Abraham Accords and normalise relations with Israel, Trump said: “I told him, I hope you’re going to join once you’re straightened out and he said yes. But they have a lot of work to do.”
Trump also asked Sharaa to deport Palestinian militants and tell foreign fighters to leave the country, as well as to take control of camps for captured Islamic State group fighters, currently run by Kurdish forces opposed by Turkey, the White House said.
Syria’s foreign ministry hailed the meeting as “historic”, but did not mention the Abraham Accords. State media also did not mention normalisation.
The ministry said the leaders discussed “avenues for Syrian-American partnership in counterterrorism efforts” and the importance of lifting sanctions and supporting reconstruction.
After the longer-than-expected half-hour meeting, Trump said the Assad-era sanctions had been “really crippling”.
