Syria's Interim President Ahmed al-Sarra
Two decades ago, Ahmed al-Sarra was a prisoner in US-run prisons in Iraq after joining an al-Qaeda group fighting US forces in the country.
Few would have predicted then that al-Sarra would become the first Syrian president to visit Washington since Syria gained independence in 1946, and meet US President Donald Trump at the White House today.
Al-Sara, 42, took power last year after his Islamist fighters launched a lightning attack from their enclave in northwestern Syria and overthrew Bashar al-Assad and his regime a few days later, on December 8.
Since then, Syria’s new leadership has moved at breakneck speed to reposition itself regionally, moving Damascus away from Assad’s key allies, Iran and Russia, and toward Turkey, the Gulf states and Washington.
Security is likely to be a major topic of discussion at Monday’s meeting. The United States is mediating talks between Syria and Israel on a possible security agreement, and Reuters reported that the United States plans to establish a military presence at an air base in Damascus.
Syria is also set to join a U.S.-led coalition to fight the Islamic State group, a move that could be formally announced at today’s Trump-Al-Sarrah meeting at the White House.
Al-Sarra to lift last hurdle in US sanctions on Syria
A few days before the meeting, Trump told reporters at the White House that “a lot of progress has been made” in Syria. “I think (Al-Sarra) is doing a very good job. He’s a tough neighborhood and he’s a tough guy, but I got along very well with him,” Trump said.
After Al-Sarra and Trump met in Riyadh in May, Trump announced that he would lift all sanctions on Syria. However, the most stringent measures, known as the Caesar Sanctions Act, require repeal by Congress. The White House and State Department have publicly advocated lifting them before the end of 2025, but experts say the federal government shutdown could affect that timeframe.
Sarah is expected to strongly support lifting the sanctions, which would help boost global investment in a country that has been battered by 14 years of civil war and that the World Bank estimates will need more than $200 billion to rebuild. Syria’s social fabric has been tested more recently. New outbreaks of sectarian violence have left more than 2,500 dead since Assad’s fall, deepening the wounds of the civil war and calling into question the ability of the new leaders to govern in the name and interest of all the country’s citizens.
Dramatic Transformations
Al-Sarra's transformation is as impressive as Syria's.
He joined al-Qaeda in Iraq around the time of the US-led invasion of the country in 2003 and spent years in US prisons there before returning to Syria to join the uprising against Assad.
In 2013, the US designated al-Sarra, then known as Abu Muhammad al-Golani, a terrorist for his ties to al-Qaeda. Al-Sara broke ties with al-Qaeda in 2016 and consolidated his influence in northwestern Syria. In December 2024, the US withdrew a $10 million bounty on his head, while last week the UN Security Council
lifted sanctions against al-Sara and his Interior Minister Anas Khattab, linked to their involvement in the terrorist organization HTS, which has roots in the Islamic State and al-Qaeda.
Following the UN move, Britain and the US lifted their own sanctions against al-Sara and Khattab.
"Al-Sarra's visit to Washington is emblematic of the dramatic change underway, as Syria transitioned from an Iranian satrapy to joining the camp under
No comments:
Post a Comment