Syria's Foreign Ministry has denied a report detailing US plans to establish a military presence at a base in Damascus.
Reuters reported this week that Washington was preparing for the move to help enable a security pact it is brokering between Syria and Israel. Six sources were quoted in the report.
The airbase in the capital would sit at the gateway to southern parts of the country expected to make up a demilitarised zone as part of a US-mediated non-aggression pact between Israel and Syria, Reuters said. It said it spoke to sources including two western officials and a Syrian defence official, who confirmed the US was planning to use the base to help monitor a potential Israel-Syria agreement.
On Thursday, an official source at the ministry described the news as "false", in a report by state news agency Sana. "The current stage is witnessing a shift in the US position towards direct engagement with the central Syrian government, supporting efforts to unify the country, and rejecting any calls for partition," the source said.
“In its new phase, Syria is steadily moving towards consolidating stability and strengthening co-operation based on national sovereignty and mutual respect."
US President Donald Trump is expected to host Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara for talks in Washington on November 10, marking the first visit by a Syrian leader to the White House. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the meeting was part of Mr Trump's effort to pursue peace in the Middle East.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani said the talks would focus on postwar reconstruction and the easing of sanctions on Damascus. “This visit is certainly historic,” Mr Shibani told a panel at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain. "Many topics will be discussed, starting with the lifting of sanctions.”
The UN Security Council lifted its sanctions on Mr Al Shara on Thursday, before his meeting with Mr Trump. The US-drafted resolution also lifted sanctions on Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab.
Washington had for months urged the 15-member council to ease its Syria sanctions after Mr Trump first announced a major US policy shift on the country in May, during his visit to the Gulf.
Mr Trump met Mr Al Shara for the first time during a visit to Saudi Arabia. It was the first encounter between the leaders of the two nations in 25 years.
"I think he's doing a very good job," Mr Trump said of Mr Al Shara on Thursday. "It's a tough neighbourhood and he's a tough guy, but I got along with him very well. And a lot of progress has been made with Syria. We did take the sanctions off Syria in order to give them a fighting shot."
