Trump says he will ease sanctions on Syria, moves to restore relations with new leader [View all]
Source: AP
Updated 12:29 PM EDT, May 13, 2025
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will move to normalize relations and lift sanctions on Syria’s new government to give the country “a chance at peace.”
Trump was set to meet Wednesday in Saudi Arabia with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the onetime insurgent who last year led the overthrow of former leader Bashar Assad. He said the effort at rapprochement came at the urging of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi de facto ruler, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “There is a new government that will hopefully succeed,” Trump said of Syria, adding, “I say good luck, Syria. Show us something special.”
The developments were a major boost for the Syrian president who at one point was imprisoned in Iraq for his role in the insurgency following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of the Arab country. Al-Sharaa was named president of Syria in January, a month after a stunning offensive by insurgent groups led by al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or HTS that stormed Damascus ending the 54-year rule of the Assad family.
The U.S. has been weighing how to handle al-Sharaa since he took power in December. Gulf leaders, have rallied behind the new government in Damascus and will want Trump to follow, believing it is a bulwark against Iran’s return to influence in Syria, where it had helped prop up Assad’s government during a decade-long civil war.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/ahmad-alsharaa-trump-syria-bashar-al-assad-6facdef5b881286955b95e0c5b2704d7
That will cause some head explosions "nearby".
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