RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) 鈥 President Donald Trump was meeting Wednesday with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, going face-to-face with the onetime insurgent leader who spent years imprisoned by U.S. forces after being captured in Iraq.
Trump agreed to 鈥渟ay hello鈥 to al-Sharaa before the U.S. leader wraps up and heads to Qatar, where Trump is to be honored with a state visit. His Mideast tour also will take him to the United Arab Emirates.
Al-Sharaa was named president of Syria in January, a month after a stunning offensive by insurgent groups led by al-Sharaa鈥檚 , or HTS, stormed Damascus and
Trump said he decided to meet with al-Sharaa after being encouraged to do so by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The president also pledged to lift yearslong sanctions on Syria.
鈥淭here is a new government that will hopefully succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace,鈥 Trump said in a Tuesday in which he announced he was lifting the sanctions that have been in place in Syria since 2011. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we want to see in Syria.鈥
Formerly known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, al-Sharaa joined the ranks of al-Qaida insurgents battling U.S. forces in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion and still faces a warrant for his arrest on terrorism charges in Iraq. The U.S. once offered $10 million for information about his whereabouts because of his links to al-Qaida.
Al-Sharaa came back to his home country of Syria after the conflict began in 2011 and led al-Qaida鈥檚 branch that used to be known as the Nusra Front. He later changed the name of his group to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and cut links with al-Qaida.
The sanctions go back to the rule of Bashar Assad, who was ousted in December, and were intended to inflict major pain on his economy.
Both the Biden and Trump administrations had left the sanctions in place after Assad鈥檚 fall as they sought to take the measure of al-Sharaa, who has renounced his past affiliation with al-Qaida.
After his 鈥減ull aside鈥 with al-Sharaa, Trump will attend a meeting Wednesday of the Gulf Cooperation Council, made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, before setting off for Qatar, the second stop in his Mideast tour.
Qatar, like the other Gulf Arab states, is an autocratic nation where political parties are banned and speech is tightly controlled. It is overseen by its ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Sheikh Tamim, 44, took power in June 2013 when his father stepped down.
Oil exports in Qatar began after World War II, though it would take until 1997 before Qatar began shipping out liquefied natural gas to the world.
That brought unfathomable wealth 鈥 and new influence 鈥 to this small nation that sticks out like a thumb into the Persian Gulf. Qatar founded the satellite news network Al Jazeera, which brought an Arab perspective to mass media that helped fuel the 2011 Arab Spring protests. The network also became famous for running statements from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
Qatar has also played a central role in pay-to-play-style scandals around the globe.
In Israel, authorities are investigating allegations that to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to launch PR campaigns to improve the Gulf nation鈥檚 image among Israelis.
Two European Union lawmakers found themselves accused of taking money from Doha in U.S. prosecutors in 2020 to secure the tournament in the country in 2022.
In 2024, RTX Corporation, the defense contractor , agreed to pay more than $950 million to resolve allegations that it to secure business with . Doha always has denied wrongdoing and sponsors an annual anti-corruption prize.
Qatar follows an ultraconservative form of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism born out of Saudi Arabia. However, Qatar struck a different tack in the Arab Spring by backing Islamists, including Egypt鈥檚 Muslim Brotherhood and former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, as well as those who rose up against Assad.
Its support of Islamists, in part, led to a yearslong boycott of the country by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. That boycott only ended as then-President Joe Biden prepared to enter the White House in 2021.
Qatar also has served as a key mediator, particularly with the militant group Hamas as the international community pursues a ceasefire for the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Qatar also served as host of the negotiations between the United States and the Taliban that led to America鈥檚 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Qatar is home to Al-Udeid Air Base, a sprawling facility that hosts the forward headquarters of the U.S. military鈥檚 Central Command.
The oil-rich country is also in the over its offer to provide Trump with the gift of a luxury 747-8 that the U.S. could use as Air Force One while new versions of the plane are under construction by Boeing.
The Qatari government has said a final decision hasn鈥檛 been made. But Trump has defended the idea as a fiscally smart move for the U.S., even as critics argue it would amount to a president accepting an astonishingly valuable gift from a foreign government.
Trump has indicated he would refurbish the aircraft and it would later be donated to his post-White House presidential library. He says he would not use the plane once he leaves office.
The president, early Wednesday in a social media post, said the plane 鈥渋s a gift from a Nation, Qatar, that we have successfully defended for many years.鈥
鈥淲hy should our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay hundreds of millions of Dollars when they can get it for FREE from a country that wants to reward us for a job well done,鈥 Trump added. 鈥淭his big savings will be spent, instead, to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Only a FOOL would not accept this gift on behalf of our Country.鈥
