Syria joins anti-Daesh fight after Trump talks

Syria is joining the global coalition against the Daesh group, a US official said on Monday hours after President Donald Trump welcomed his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa for historic White House talks.

Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar Al Assad late last year, was the first Syrian leader to visit the White House since the Middle Eastern country’s independence in 1946.

But the 43-year-old’s landmark visit to the Oval Office came just days after Washington removed him from its terrorism list. Sharaa’s group, Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), was formerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda.

“During the visit, Syria announced that it is joining the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh,” becoming the 90th member of the alliance and “partnering with the United States to eliminate ISIS remnants and halt foreign fighter flows,” a senior administration official said.

According to the official, Syria will also be allowed to resume diplomatic relations with Washington “to further counterterrorism, security, and economic coordination.” Trump said he wanted Syria to become “very successful” after more than a decade of civil war and added that he believed Sharaa “can do it, I really do.”

“He’s a very strong leader. He comes from a very tough place, and he’s a tough guy,” Trump told reporters after the meeting, which was closed to press.

“People said he’s had a rough past, we’ve all had rough pasts... And I think, frankly, if you didn’t have a rough past, you wouldn’t have a chance.”

Trump said Syria was a “big part” of his plan for a wider Middle East peace plan, which the US president is hoping will prop up the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

“Having a stable and successful Syria is very important to all countries in the Region,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform after the meeting.

Despite this, Trump would not confirm reports that Syria would sign any non-aggression pact with long-term foe Israel.

Afterwards Sharaa was interviewed by broadcaster Fox News, saying Syria’s ongoing dispute with Israel over the Golan Heights territory would make entering peace talks difficult now.

But he suggested talks facilitated by Trump and Washington could help start negotiations.

In dramatic scenes as he left his meeting with Trump, he climbed out of his motorcade to greet crowds of supporters outside the White House, surrounded on all sides by bodyguards.

Agence France-Presse