BBC:
Donald Trump has said his administration is now exploring the possibility of normalising relations with Syria – his comments coming shortly after he met Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose forces ended the decades-long dictatorship of the Assad family.
The extraordinary encounter, unthinkable just months ago, was short but significant.
“I think he has got the potential,” Trump remarked after his meeting in Riyadh, 37 minutes long, with the former Syrian fighter formerly linked to al-Qaeda.
The $10m US bounty on his head was only lifted in December.
Video footage of their conversation in a lavish Saudi royal palace showed some initial awkwardness as they spoke through a translator.
A beaming Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman, sat next to them. The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined them by telephone.
Trump acknowledged it was these two leaders who had convinced him to also lift the US’s punishing Syria sanctions.
His sudden announcement on Tuesday night at a major US-Saudi investment forum in Riyadh won him a standing ovation. It was a volte-face after his many previous posts on social media that the US had “no interest in Syria”.
0:29Watch: ‘Young, attractive guy’ – Trump talks about Syrian president
“Tough guy, very strong past,” is how Trump later described Sharaa to journalists travelling with his high-powered American delegation on his first official four-day tour.
It was a very Trump gloss about Sharaa’s old links to al-Qaeda. His Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria until he severed ties in 2016. HTS is still designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN, US and UK.
Since assuming power in December, Sharaa has been wearing Western business suits and trying to present himself as a president for all Syrians.
“It’s a new light at the end of this tunnel,” exclaimed Hind Kabawat, minister of social affairs and labour, in the interim government.
She told the BBC’s Newshour programme they had been calling for sanctions relief ever since their “Liberation Day”.
The US decision sparked celebrations across a county where 90% of Syrians are said to be living in poverty, after more than a decade of civil war and profound suffering.
Removing restrictions which cut Syria off from the international financial system will enable greater engagement by aid agencies and encourage foreign investment and trade.
