Landmark meeting between Trump and Al Shara boosts new order in Syria

US President has announced the lifting of American sanctions on Damascus

Live updates: Follow the latest on Trump's Gulf trip

US President Donald Trump met Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara in Riyadh on Wednesday and discussed counter-terrorism co-operation, the two sides said, in a crucial boost to the fledging order in Damascus and efforts to halt Iranian expansionism in the Middle East.

The meeting, a day after Mr Trump lifted sanctions on Syria, ushers in the prospect of ties resuming between Washington and Damascus, after years of discord under former president Bashar Al Assad, who was toppled last year by rebels led by Mr Al Shara.

Mr Trump said Mr Al Shara "has a tremendous opportunity to do something historic in his country" and that he should rid Syria of terrorism, according to the White House.

Syria, a strategic country with a collapsed economy and deep wounds from a 14-year civil war, is now ruled by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, a religious group formerly linked with Al Qaeda, and led by Mr Al Shara.

Unlike European powers, Washington had previously baulked at recognising the new Syrian regime, giving as reasons its links with foreign militants and the killing of minorities in sectarian violence.

The Trump-Al Shara meeting opens up the possibility of Syria securing US funding for reconstruction. Such cash flows could shore up Mr Al Shara's domestic position as he seeks to strengthen control.

Mr Trump described him as a “real leader”, adding that "he's got the potential", and said that the meeting with Mr Al Shara, who he called a young, attractive guy with a very strong past, was "great".

"He's got a real shot at holding it together."

In a televised speech after the meeting, Mr Shara said he expected Syria to recover, but that the process will take time.

"The road is still long in front of us. The serious work has started today, and with it the renaissance of modern Syria," Mr Al Shara said, adding that the government is committed to attracting foreign investment.

In his youth, the new Syrian president was a prisoner of US forces in Iraq. He was one of thousands of foreign fighters who travelled to the country after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. American troops arrested him in 2005 and he was released about six years later. He then returned to Syria and formed an Al Qaeda-affiliated rebel group fighting against Mr Al Assad. He broke ties with Al Qaeda in 2016 and formed HTS.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry described the meeting, which was arranged by Saudi Arabia and Turkey, as historic. It said the two men discussed forming a partnership against terrorism, including against ISIS and other foreign extremist groups.

Mr Trump is looking to reshape the Middle East into an economic-centric bloc that is at peace with Israel and shuns influence from Iran, which wields power through allied armed groups across the region.

Mr Al Shara, a hardened fighter who has proven to be ultra-pragmatic both as President and in the past, in his dealings with numerous militant organisations, has avoided hostile action against Israel since taking power. This is despite Israeli bombing of targets in Syria in support of the minority Druze community.

'Major players'

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Mr Trump urged Mr Al Shara to "tell all foreign terrorists to leave Syria and to sign on to the Abraham Accords with Israel".

The meeting was the first between a US president and a Syrian leader since a failed encounter in 2000 between Bill Clinton and Hafez Al Assad that ended the prospects for a historic peace between Syria and Israel, who have technically been at war since 1967.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also attended the meeting, as did President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, who was online. A European diplomat said their presence showed US recognition of the two countries as "major players in Syria".

"This is not good news for the Kurds in particular," the diplomat said, referring to Kurdish militias in control of swathes of eastern Syria, a legacy of the fragmentation of the country under Mr Al Assad.

The mostly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces has been a thorn in Turkey’s side since the US founded the militia in 2015 as the ground component in its fight against ISIS. US support has prevented Turkey from realising its goal of diminishing the SDF, which Ankara sees as an offshoot of Kurdish secessionists.

The diplomat said the potential for a new alliance with Damascus would render the SDF less useful to Washington and make the US more responsive to Turkish demands to dissolve the group, a goal also shared by Mr Al Shara.

'Chance at greatness'

On Tuesday, Mr Trump announced in Riyadh that the US would be lifting sanctions on Syria “in order to give them a chance at greatness”. The US President said he was looking to offer Syria “a chance at peace” under Mr Al Shara.

But Murat Yesiltas, a member of a security and foreign policy advisory board to Mr Erdogan, cautioned that American support for Mr Al Shara would be conditional.

He predicted a step-by-step approach to lifting sanctions. “They can offer some sort of conditions to Al Shara’s government to maintain the US, or Trump’s, decisiveness,” Mr Yesiltas said.

Fawaz Tello, a former Syrian political prisoner who led a non-violent opposition movement against Bashar Al Assad in the 2000s, said the Trump-Al Shara meeting constitutes "full-US recognition of the new order" that will help mould Syria into a modern nation.

Mr Tello said it could usher in a "strategic Syrian-American partnership".