Trump, Al-Sharaa during the secret meeting at the White House.
By agency reports
President Donald Trump of the United States, on Monday held a secret meeting with Syrian President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda terrorist leader, at the White House.
Al-Sharaa’s visit was the first-ever visit by a Syrian head of state to the White House.
The closed-door meeting, described by sources as “highly unusual,” broke from normal White House protocol as reporters and cameras were barred from covering the event.
Al-Sharaa, once one of the world’s most wanted terrorists, was the leader of al-Qaeda, a U.S.-designated terrorist organisation.
He had carried a 10 million dollar bounty on his head until Dec. 2024, when Washington quietly removed his name from the wanted list.
According to ABC News, he previously served time in Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison, where U.S. forces once detained high-profile insurgents during the post-invasion years.
The visit follows Al-Sharaa’s surprise appearance at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York last month, his first major international outing since assuming Syria’s presidency.
After the meeting, the U.S. President said that the world should expect “some announcements on Syria”, following his meeting with the Syrian president.
“We want to see Syria become a country that’s very successful, and we think this leader can do it”, Trump told reporters
He gets along very well with Turkey, with President Erdoğan. We’re working also with Israel on getting along with Syria
Syria and the U.S. also agreed to integrate the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces into the ranks of the Syrian army, Syria’s Foreign Ministry has said in a statement.
The move comes as part of a process to unify institutions and boost national security, it said.
The statement added that the U.S. stressed its support for reaching a security agreement between Syria and Israel.
