Syrian president arrives in Washington after US removes him from terrorism blacklist
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Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa is due to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Nov 10.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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DAMASCUS - Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in the United States on Nov 10 for a landmark official visit, his country’s state news agency reported, a day after Washington removed him from a terrorism blacklist.
Mr Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year, is due to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Nov 10.
The interim leader met Mr Trump for the first time in Riyadh during the US president’s regional tour in May.
US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said earlier this month that Sharaa would “hopefully” sign an agreement to join the international US-led alliance against ISIS.
The United States plans to establish a military base near Damascus “to coordinate humanitarian aid and observe developments between Syria and Israel”, a diplomatic source in Syria told AFP.
The State Department’s decision on Nov 7 to remove Mr Sharaa from the blacklist was widely expected.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said Mr Sharaa’s government had been meeting US demands including on working to find missing Americans and on eliminating any remaining chemical weapons.
On Nov 6, Washington led a vote by the Security Council to remove UN sanctions
Formerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda, Mr Sharaa’s group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was delisted as a terrorist group by Washington as recently as July.
Since taking power, Syria’s new leaders have sought to break from their violent past and present a moderate image more tolerable to ordinary Syrians and foreign powers.
