Al-Sharaa meets Trump at the White House as Syria seeks closer relations with the West

Amna Nawaz:

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa met with President Trump today, in the first visit by a Syrian leader to the White House since the country’s independence nearly 80 years ago.

Jeff Bennett:

As Nick Schifrin reported, Damascus today joined the global coalition to combat ISIS, and the Trump administration extended temporary sanctions relief.

Nick Shiffrin:

Today in the Oval Office, a partnership that was once unimaginable, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, a former prisoner of American forces, was welcomed into the seat of American power. His path from Warrior to The West Wing was praised by President Trump again today.

President Donald Trump:

We want to see Syria become a very successful country, and I believe this leader can do that. I really do. I believe this leader can do it. People said he had a difficult past. We’ve all had a rough past.

Nick Shiffrin:

Just a year ago, Abu Muhammad al-Julani led Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, a group designated as a terrorist group by the United States, with a $10 million bounty on its head. From 2005 to 2011, American forces arrested him as an insurgent in Iraq.

But last December, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham overthrew half a century of tyranny in Syria, ending 14 years of bloody civil war and beginning Shara’s transformation from jihadist soldier to statesman to athlete of sorts. With the United States’ top Middle East officer in the background, Shara this weekend shot the men who, a few years earlier, had been responsible for his arrest.

Moaz Mustafa, Executive Director of the Syrian Emergency Team:

That’s historical in itself, isn’t it? This is the first Syrian president to enter the US White House.

Nick Shiffrin:

Moaz Mustafa leads the Syrian emergency team that calls for Syrian democracy, and he met with Al-Sharaa recently this weekend.

Moaz Mustafa:

Syria itself, which was under the influence of China, Iran, North Korea and Russia, now comes and wants to be an ally of the Western democracies and the first Syrian president ever to visit the White House. I think that’s the big story.

Nick Shiffrin:

Syria announced today that it will become the 90th partner in the international coalition against ISIS. Already, US forces are training with Syrian forces to try to ensure Syria can help prevent the return of ISIS. A US official told “PBS News Hour” that the United States – quote – “advised, assisted and enabled” in 22 anti-ISIS operations over the past month with Syrian forces.

This weekend, the Syrian Interior Ministry announced a large-scale raid targeting ISIS fighters, and Syria authorized US airstrikes. This year, the US military has targeted an ISIS or al-Qaeda leader in Syria at least eight times.

Moaz Mustafa:

These joint counter-terrorism, counter-ISIS, and sometimes counter-Al-Qaeda operations are ongoing and have been successful. But they were going under the table somehow. Today, both the US military and the Syrians will have the tools and ability to operate and coordinate counterterrorism operations overtly and covertly.

Nick Shiffrin:

But what was not announced today is the abolition of the punitive sanctions on Syria known as the Caesar Act imposed on Bashar al-Assad for waging a brutal war and torture against his own people. Today, the administration extended the suspension of implementation of the Caesar Act for another 180 days.

A senior administration official told PBS News Hour: “The Trump administration supports the full repeal of the Caesar Act. Removal is key to allowing US companies and regional countries to operate in Syria.”

But only Congress can do that. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham resisted.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina):

But Syria has a lot to prove to me in the region before that happens.

Moaz Mustafa:

Millions of Syrian refugees want to return to their homes, and they cannot rebuild as long as Caesar remains a mere shadow of reimposed sanctions or exists as an authority. If Caesar remains, he will destroy the Syrian economy, despite everything else. We do not want to see a failed state in Syria. This is bad for the whole world.

Nick Shiffrin:

Nor was a de-escalation agreement announced today with Israel, whose soldiers continue to occupy strategically important territory in southern Syria after a series of air strikes on Syrian military and government targets.

Moaz Mustafa:

The goal here, if anything, is to stop the bombing and incursions carried out by the Israelis. He also said that this would open the door to a lasting peace with Israel in the long term.

Nick Shiffrin:

There is also no peace yet within parts of Syria. Bedouins in the south accuse the government of committing acts of violence and exacerbating sectarian clashes. Syrian Christians blame the government for failing to protect them. Kurds in the north are concerned about government pressure. Former ruling Shiite Alawites accused government forces of committing a sectarian massacre.

Dr. Murhaf Ibrahim, President of the Alevi Association of the United States: The only reason these people were killed is the fact that they are Alawites.

Nick Shiffrin:

Dr. Murhaf Ibrahim is the President of the Alawite Society in the United States.

Dr. Murhaf Ibrahim:

It’s just the Al Qaeda mentality and the Islamic Jihad mentality as well, that if you believe in a different God or if you practice your faith in different ways, you should be killed. This is the background of Ahmed Al-Sharaa and his government, and for this reason the American government must be careful in dealing with this man.

Nick Shiffrin:

But today, outside the White House, Sharaa received a hero’s welcome. They celebrated a man who had come a long way, even if others said he had a long way to go.

On the “PBS News Hour,” I’m Nick Schifrin.