US congressmen meet Syria's leader al-Sharaa, highlighting new ties between two countries
A group of US members of Congress met with Syrian transitional president Ahmed al-Sharaa on Tuesday.
This marks one of several important meetings the new Syrian president has had with US officials. It matters because with each round of meetings, he is becoming more acquainted with the US members of Congress and also how the US House of Representatives and Senate work.
It is at least the third round of meetings the Syrian president has held with members of the US Congress.
The current delegation included US Republican Senators Joni Ernst and Markwayne Mullin, as well as members of the US House of Representatives, Missouri Republican Jason Smith, and California Democrat Jimmy Panetta, the Hill reported.
This comes after the Syrian leadership also met with Arizona Republican House Representative Abraham Hamadeh.
At the time, in mid-August, Hamadeh's office noted that 'in an unprecedented trip from Jerusalem to Damascus, [Hamadeh] met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani to discuss the congressman's continuing efforts to bring Americans home, advance Peace Through Strength, and advocate for a Syria that looks towards the future and not the past.'
The office of Hamadeh further noted that 'this historic step marks the first time an American official has shuttled between Jerusalem and Damascus in decades. As an emissary of the Peace Through Strength agenda, congressman Hamadeh, a former US Army Reserve Intelligence Officer, was in Syria for six hours to meet with President al-Sharaa to discuss the return of Kayla Mueller's body to her family in Arizona, the need to establish a secure humanitarian corridor for the safe delivery of medical and humanitarian aid to Suwayda, and the need for Syria to attain normalization with Israel and join the Abraham Accords.'
New meeting builds on previous meetings
The new meeting builds on that meeting. It also comes after an important meeting in April. At the time, al-Sharaa met with Florida Republican Representative Cory Mills and Indiana Republican Representative Marlin Stutzman. Mills serves on the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees.
The meetings illustrate how the new Syrian president is reaching out to the US Congress. Laura Kellly wrote at The Hill that 'the lawmakers met with al-Sharaa and other senior officials in the administration, including Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Asaad Hassan Al-Shaibani and Minister of Interior Anas Khattab.'
She added that 'Trump has moved to significantly ease sanctions on Syria in the wake of the ousting of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in December. But Congress is split over whether to permanently repeal the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, a comprehensive sanctions regime against Syria that was meant to isolate and bankrupt Assad. Trump only has a six-month waiver to suspend those sanctions.'
These are key leadership engagements for the US members of Congress. It illustrates how the US is reaching out to the new Syrian government.
At the same time, there are concerns in Israel about Syria's treatment of the Druze in southern Syria and also questions about Syria-Israel ties.
The key point is that the US is willing to reach out to Syria and normalize ties with the new government.
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