Sanctions Lifted by UN Just Two Days Ago
Summit with Trump Scheduled for the 10th
Major IS Crackdown Underway in Syria
Ahmed Alshara, the interim president of Syria, visited Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, for a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, just two days after being removed from the United Nations sanctions list for his past involvement with the Islamic extremist terrorist organization Al-Qaeda.
On December 22 last year (local time), Ahmed Alshara, the interim President of Syria, attended a press conference after meeting with the Foreign Minister of Turkey in Damascus. Photo by EPA Yonhap News
On the 8th (local time), major international media outlets including the BBC reported that President Alshara had arrived in Washington, D.C., and is scheduled to hold a summit with President Trump at the White House on the 10th. This marks the first visit by a Syrian president to the White House since Syria's founding in 1946. The summit is expected to focus primarily on how to address the remaining extremist terrorist group Islamic State (IS) in Syria.
President Alshara established an interim government last December after overthrowing the dictatorial regime of Bashar al-Assad. He is also well known for his past activities in terrorist organizations.
He was active in the Iraqi branch of Al-Qaeda, and when the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, he founded the Al-Qaeda affiliate "Jabhat al-Nusra." Jabhat al-Nusra operated as the official Al-Qaeda branch in Syria until 2016, when it severed ties with Al-Qaeda. Afterwards, he unified four rebel groups in northern Syria and formed the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). By the end of 2024, he played a leading role in toppling the Assad regime, which had ruled Syria for 53 years.
After taking office as interim president, Alshara has promoted moderate policies both domestically and internationally in an effort to move away from his previously violent image. In April, Syria established formal diplomatic relations with South Korea.
Interim President Ahmed Alshara is shaking hands with U.S. President Donald Trump at the Saudi Arabian Royal Palace on May 14. Photo by AP Yonhap News
Last May, Interim President Alshara met President Trump for the first time in Saudi Arabia as Trump was touring the Middle East. At that time, President Trump described Alshara as "a young, charismatic tough guy" and pledged to lift sanctions on Syria. Subsequently, the United States lifted its sanctions on Syria. On the 6th, the United Nations Security Council lifted sanctions against him, including a travel ban, asset freeze, and arms embargo, and the following day, the United States also removed him from its terrorist sanctions list.
After arriving in the United States, Alshara posted a video on social media playing basketball with U.S. Central Command Commander Admiral Brad Cooper and others, saying, "Work hard, play harder."
Previously, Tom Barrack, the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and President Trump's special envoy to Syria, revealed Alshara's plans to visit the United States and expressed hope that Syria would join the U.S.-led international coalition to defeat IS through this visit. As Alshara headed to Washington, D.C., the Syrian Ministry of Interior announced that it had attacked IS strongholds, arrested 71 people, and seized explosives and weapons.
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