President Trump, rapid decades of the American government policy that treated Syria as a paria, held an extraordinary meeting with her president, Ahmed Al-Sharara, the former leader of a rebel group designated as A terrorist organization by the US government.
The meeting, held in Riyadh, Saudi -Arabia, at the insistence of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, took place one day after Mr Trump announced that he was that Picking up radical sanctions against SyriaThat Washington started to impose in 1979.
Mr. Trump, who is known to judge people according to what they look like, suggested that Mr Al-Shara, a robust figure with a thick black beard that had knocked over the brutal Assad dynasty in December, had made a favorable impression.
“Young, attractive man,” Mr Trump described him to the news media. “Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Veer.”
“He has a real chance to pull it together,” Mr. Trump said about Syria and added: “It is a torn country.”
The last meeting between the leaders of both countries happened 25 years ago.
Mr. Trump spoke while he flew to QatarThe second stop on his Four Days Marches, three-country Middle East Tour that will bring him next to the United Arab Emirates. The Qataris greeted, just like the Saudis, Mr. Trump with splendor, including an honorary guard that was mounted on camels for his presidential motorcade.
Much of the trip is focused on business deals, including The $ 142 billion sales of armament to Saudi -Arabia and an agreement to sell 160 Boeing -passenger aircraft to Qatar. The White House said on Tuesday that the president had secured $ 600 billion in deals with the Saudi government and companies. But the details were vague and some of the announced deals that had already been in the making as new.
Even when Mr. Trump trumpeted the deals, various issues – the violence that teases the middle -old, including the war in Gaza; The unstable situation in Syria; And a possible deal with Iran about his nuclear weapon development program – Loerden in the background in the background.
The lifting of sanctions would be A lifeline for Syria. After almost 14 years of civil war, the country was physically and economically destroyed and hard sanctions were imposed after the former president, Bashar al-Assad, performed a violent action against a democratic uprising in 2011. That led to a civil war that killed more than 600,000 people and developed around 13 million, according to the estimates of the United Nations. The sanctions had blocked the most help, including those needed for reconstruction.
“The sanctions were really paralyzing,” Mr Trump said in comments to Arabic golf leaders who had gathered to meet him on Wednesday. He worked to normalize relations with Syria, he said, adding to it: “I feel very strong that this would give them a chance.”
Both Prince Mohammed and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, who supported the uprising that Mr Al-Sharara brought to power, had encouraged Mr Trump to lift the sanctions. Mr Erdogan, who came by telephone the 30 -minute meeting with the Syrian leader, and the Saudi crown prince, who was personally present, praised the decision. Prince Mohammad called it ‘courageous’, according to a summary of the White House.
Mr. Trump told Mr. Al-Shara that “he has a huge opportunity to do something historically in his country,” said the summary published by the Pers Secretary of the White House. The president also insisted on Mr. Al-Sharara to take steps to normalize Syria’s relations with Israel, which have long been violentAnd to ‘tell all foreign terrorists to leave the country’, the summary said.
In Riyadh, the Saudi capital, the Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, said at a press conference later on Wednesday that the “many opportunities, capacities and resources of Syria” were “one of the most important discussion points” during the meeting. “It has resources, and, more importantly, it has a capable people: a well -trained, expert population who wants to move Syria to a new phase,” he said.
The American mechanism for lifting the sanctions against Syria was not immediately clear, because some of them were imposed by the congress. Yet it was a remarkable shift for Mr Trump, who during his first term as President had nothing but “sand and death”.
He had also expressed deep skepticism about the long -term deployment of American troops in the country. A contingent of around 2,000 American troops placed in northeastern Syria, mainly to prevent the resurrection of the Islamic State, will be reduced to around 1400, American officials have said.
The meeting was also a crucial turn of events for Mr. Al-Shara, who has long had a bounty of $ 10 million on his head. He was also held in the American detention in Iraq for years. After he was released, he returned to Syria in 2011 to set up a branch of the Islamic State and then connected his group with Al Qaida, but broke with it in 2016.
In the years that followed, Mr. Al-Shara had that aimed at rule the northwest of the countryFrom where his hunters’ ragtagband launched the offensive in December that the Syrian government dropped. The United States dropped its offer of a reward for Mr. Al-Shara in December, but he remains on the list of designated terrorists for his earlier relationship with Al Qaeda.
In Syria there were scenes of jubilation On the street on the news that sanctions would be lifted. Many people expressed optimism that at least some of their economic misery would be tackled. But many Syrians were also afraid that their country could still be split apart due to a recent increase in sectarian violence.
More generally in the middle -old, violence and conflicts continued, even when Mr. Trump toured the region. Israeli air strikes in the Northern Gaza Strip killed dozens of Palestinians, said Palestinian health officials on Wednesday. The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comments. But an Israeli military spokesperson had threatened to bomb a part of the north of Gaza after militants had fired missiles on Israel.
Israel, the most important American ally in the region, was not included on the journey of Mr Trump, amidst Reports of growing differences With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about American attempts to negotiate a ceasefire in the Gaza war with Hamas. But Mr. Trump told reporters that he was not trying to put Israel aside.
“This is good for Israel, with a relationship like I have with these countries, countries in the East, essentially all,” said Mr. Trump.
In his comments to Arabic leaders, Mr Trump has broadcast Iran for criticism, but he had also noticed that he wanted to conclude a deal with Tehran about his advancing nuclear program. He also noticed earlier that he does not enjoy permanent enemies.
That certainly applies to Qatar that Mr Trump accused during his first presidency of supports of terrorism. But when he landed in Doha, the Qatari capital became exercises of the effusive greetings.
“We are very excited,” the leader of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, greeted Mr. Trump during a ceremony with red carpet at the head offices of the government. “I know you want to bring peace to this region.”
The president praised the work of the Emir to mediate the wars in the middle and between Russia and Ukraine.
Shortly after he arrived, Qatar Airways, who uses Doha as a hub that connects long-distance flights to Africa and Asia to Europe and America, signed an agreement for the 160 Boeing-Jets.
Neither the American nor the Qatari leader publicly mentioned the $ 400 million Boeing 747 that Qatar had offered Mr. Trump as a replacement for Air Force One. Mr. Trump said that he would be a “fool” not to take it, but the offer has fueled widespread criticism in the United States, even from some loyal Trump supporters.
While the Limousine of Mr. Trump rolled to the Royal Court of Qatar, a cavalry of men on Camelback was on his path. “We appreciate those camels,” Mr Trump said later. “We haven’t seen such camels for a long time.”
Reporting was contributed by Lynsey Chutel” Vivian Nereim” AARON BOXERMAN” Ben Hubbard And Euan Ward.
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