Al-Sharaa to become the first Syrian president to visit the White House after an unlikely rise

BEIRUT -- Two decades ago, Ahmad al-Sharaa was held successful a U.S.-run detention halfway successful Iraq aft joining al-Qaida militants warring against American forces there.

Few would person predicted that helium would spell connected to go the archetypal Syrian president to sojourn Washington since the country’s independency successful 1946.

Since rebel forces helium led ousted erstwhile Syrian President Bashar Assad past December, al-Sharaa — who chopped ties with al-Qaida years earlier — has gone connected a mostly palmy charm violative to found caller ties with countries that had shunned Assad’s authorities aft its brutal crackdown connected protesters successful 2011 spiraled into a 14-year civilian war.

Al-Sharaa met with U.S. President Donald Trump successful Saudi Arabia successful May, wherever Trump announced that helium would assistance decades of sanctions.

The 2 men volition conscionable again connected Monday successful Washington, wherever Syria is wide expected to officially articulation the U.S.-led conjugation against the Islamic State group. Al-Sharaa arrived successful the U.S. connected Saturday up of the meeting, according to Syrian authorities media.

Apart from that agreement, al-Sharaa volition usage the sojourn to propulsion for a afloat removal of the remaining sanctions imposed connected his country.

Al-Sharaa’s media adviser, Ahmad Zeidan, told the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV that the “foremost” contented connected the president’s docket successful Washington is to telephone for a repeal of the Caesar Act, which imposed sweeping sanctions implicit quality rights abuses by Assad’s authorities and information forces.

The Caesar sanctions are presently waived by statesmanlike order, but a imperishable repeal volition necessitate a legislature vote.

Days up of al-Sharaa's visit, Trump told reporters that helium had moved to assistance sanctions from Syria “to springiness them a warring shot, and I deliberation (al-Sharaa's) doing a precise bully occupation truthful far.”

“It’s a pugnacious vicinity and he’s a pugnacious guy, but I got on with him precise well, and a batch of advancement has been made with Syria,” helium said.

On Thursday, the U.N. Security Council voted to assistance sanctions from al-Sharaa and his interior minister, and the U.S. past removed them from its “specially designated planetary terrorist” list.

Meanwhile, senators person precocious a repeal of the Caesar Act done an yearly defence authorization bill, but the last authorities is being negotiated with the House, wherever immoderate apical Republicans privation to enactment conditions connected it.

Rep. Brian Mast, the Republican seat of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has expressed reservations astir a afloat repeal. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who is adjacent to Trump, has besides pushed for conditions connected the repeal, including information and practice for spiritual and taste minorities, “maintaining peaceful relations with different states successful the region, including the State of Israel,” and removing overseas fighters from authorities and information institutions.

Skeptics of al-Sharaa constituent to eruptions of sectarian unit implicit the past twelvemonth during which pro-government Sunni gunmen killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite and Druze spiritual minorities. Al-Sharaa has promised to clasp perpetrators accountable, but number communities stay wary.

The advocacy radical Save the Persecuted Christians sent a missive signed by 100 U.S. spiritual leaders calling connected Trump to code the “massacre” of minorities successful Syria and to propulsion al-Sharaa to unfastened a humanitarian corridor from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights to the Druze enclave of Sweida successful confederate Syria.

Since Assad’s fall, Israel has seized a formerly U.N.-patrolled buffer portion successful confederate Syria and pushed for a demilitarized portion southbound of Damascus. The 2 countries, which bash not person diplomatic relations, person been negotiating a imaginable information agreement.

Meanwhile, the apical Democrat connected the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, has led the effort for a afloat Caesar repeal. Shaheen said that “we person a existent accidental successful the Middle East close present that we haven’t had successful my lifetime.”

Advocates accidental it is unfair to support sanctions that were specifically imposed connected Assad's authorities arsenic leverage implicit the caller authorities and that the menace of a Caesar snapback would forestall planetary companies from investing successful rebuilding the war-battered country.

Mouaz Moustafa, enforcement manager of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, which lobbied for the imposition of the Caesar sanctions but is present trying to get them removed, said the U.S. authorities tin enforce caller targeted sanctions if warranted.

“But to usage Caesar for that is similar utilizing a sledgehammer alternatively of a scalpel — you’re going to termination the idiosyncratic you’re operating on,” Moustafa said.

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack said past week that Syria volition “hopefully” soon articulation the conjugation of immoderate 80 countries moving to forestall a resurgence of IS.

A Trump medication authoritative said Al-Sharaa is expected to motion an statement to articulation the conjugation during his visit. White House property caput Karoline Leavitt declined to remark erstwhile asked astir the possibility.

Another U.S. authoritative with cognition of the concern said that portion Syrian forces had already been warring IS, their ceremonial introduction into the conjugation volition beryllium a “milestone” and volition alteration U.S. forces to enactment much intimately with the Syrians.

Both officials were not authorized to remark publically and spoke connected information of anonymity.

Syrian officials declined to remark connected the discussions astir joining the coalition.

While the Islamic State mislaid clasp of each of the territory it erstwhile held successful Syria and Iraq years ago, cells of the extremist radical person continued to transportation retired attacks successful some countries and abroad.

Lt. Cmdr. Emily Pumphrey, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, said determination person been 311 IS attacks successful Syria and 64 successful Iraq truthful acold this year, down from 878 successful Syria and 160 successful Iraq successful 2024.

Before Assad’s fall, al-Sharaa — past known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani — led Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamic insurgent radical controlling overmuch of northwestern Syria. It was formerly an offshoot of al-Qaida but aboriginal divided from it. HTS and IS were rivals, and al-Sharaa cracked down connected Islamic State cells successful the country helium controlled.

The main U.S. spouse successful the combat against IS astatine the clip was the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces successful the country’s northeast.

Since al-Sharaa took power, the U.S. subject has expanded its practice with Damascus and Washington has pushed for a woody to merge the SDF and the caller Syrian army.

While Damascus and the SDF person agreed successful rule to bash so, implementation has stalled amid tensions that person sometimes escalated into clashes betwixt the 2 sides.

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Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani, Konstantin Toropin, Stephen Groves and Matt Lee successful Washington contributed to this report.