United States President Donald Trump will host Syria’s interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House on November 10, marking the first visit by a Syrian president to the US capital in over eight decades.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said the visit aims to open a “new chapter” in Syria-US relations. “President Ahmed al-Sharaa will be at the White House at the start of November. This is a historic visit, the first by a Syrian president in more than 80 years. Key issues on the table will include lifting sanctions and forging a strong partnership between the two countries,” he said during a speech in Bahrain on Sunday.

According to US news outlet Axios, al-Sharaa is expected to sign an agreement during his visit to join an international US-led alliance against ISIL (ISIS).

Al-Sharaa, who took power from Bashar al-Assad in December, has been working to re-establish Syria’s relations with global powers that had largely isolated Damascus under Assad’s rule. He previously met Trump in Saudi Arabia in May, the first such meeting between leaders of the two nations in 25 years.

Al-Sharaa also addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September. He previously led a Syrian offshoot of al-Qaeda, which later broke away and fought ISIL. Al-Sharaa had been targeted with a $10 million US reward and was imprisoned by US forces in Iraq before joining the Syrian war. The US-led coalition, alongside local partners, eventually expelled ISIL from its last stronghold in Syria in 2019.

His planned Washington visit comes as Trump urges Middle East allies to seize the opportunity to build lasting peace following last month’s ceasefire and captives exchange between Israel and Hamas, which aims to end Israel’s two-year war in Gaza.

Syria and Israel are also in talks to secure a halt to Israeli airstrikes in Syrian territory and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Syria, according to Damascus.

Source: AP