RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump met with interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, the first encounter between the two nations’ leaders in 25 years and one that could serve as a turning point for Syria as it struggles to emerge from decades of international isolation.
The meeting, on the sidelines of Trump’s get-together with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, marks a major turn of events for a Syria still adjusting to life after the over 50-year, iron-gripped rule of the Assad family, and for its new leader, who once had a $10 million U.S. bounty for his arrest.
Trump praised al-Sharaa to reporters after the meeting, saying he was a “young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter.”
Under the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, al-Sharaa had ties to al-Qaida and joined insurgents battling U.S. forces in Iraq before entering the Syrian war. He was even imprisoned by U.S. troops there for several years.
“He’s got a real shot at holding it together,” Trump said. “He’s a real leader. He led a charge, and he’s pretty amazing.”
Trump had announced the day before as he kicked off his three-nation Middle East tour in Riyadh that he would also move to lift U.S. sanctions imposed on Syria under the deposed autocrat Bashar Assad.
