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The Independent
14-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Who is Ahmad al-Sharaa? Syria's president who met Trump and once had $10m US bounty on his head
Six months after Ahmad al-Sharaa led the ousting of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, US president Donald Trump met the former al-Qaeda figure to talk about Syria's 'chance at greatness'. The meeting, lasting around half an hour, according to a White House official, was a dramatic turnaround for a militant figure who spent years imprisoned by US forces after being captured in Iraq. Trump agreed to 'say hello' to the interim Syrian president before the US leader wraps up his stay in Saudi Arabia and heads to Qatar, where Trump is to be honoured with a state visit. His Mideast tour will also take him to the United Arab Emirates. In a meeting between a US delegation and the Syrian foreign minister Asaad al-Shibani in New York last month, US officials conveyed to al-Shibani that Washington wanted more than a dozen conditions met before sanctions could be removed. Also in April, Al-Sharaa reportedly told a pro-Trump American activist, Jonathan Bass, that he was willing to discuss a Trump Tower in Damascus, a detente with Israel and an offer to give the US access to Syria's oil and gas in a Ukraine-style deal in a bid to curry favour with the US president. Mr al-Sharaa, who used to operate under the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, was named president of Syria in January, a month after a stunning offensive by insurgent groups led by his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which stormed Damascus and ended the 54-year rule of the Assad family. Trump said he decided to meet with al-Sharaa after being encouraged to do so by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The president also pledged to lift years-long sanctions on Syria. 'There is a new government that will hopefully succeed in stabilising the country and keeping peace,' Trump said in a wide-ranging foreign policy address Tuesday in which he announced he was lifting the sanctions that have been in place in Syria since 2011. 'That's what we want to see in Syria.' Speaking to an investment forum in Saudi Arabia's Riyadh, he added that it was Syria's 'time to shine'. The sanctions go back to the rule of al-Assad, who was ousted in December and now lives in Moscow, and were intended to inflict major pain on his economy. Both the Biden and Trump administrations had left the sanctions in place after Assad's fall as they sought to take the measure of al-Sharaa, who has renounced his past affiliation with al-Qaeda. Thus far, the extent of his transformation from jihadi extremist to would-be state builder has been applauded. His state visit with Trump is the Syrian leader's next test. As insurgents took control of the capital, Damascus, Assad fled into hiding, and for the first time in 50 years of his family's iron hand, it is an open question how Syria will be governed. Syria is home to multiple ethnic and religious communities, often pitted against each other by Assad's state and years of war. Many of them fear the possibility Sunni Islamist extremists will take over. The country is also fragmented among disparate armed factions, and foreign powers from Russia and Iran to the United States, Turkey and Israel all have their hands in the mix. For years, al-Sharaa worked to consolidate power, while bottled up in the province of Idlib in Syria's northwest corner as Assad's Iranian and Russian-backed rule over much of the country appeared solid. He manoeuvred among extremist organisations while eliminating competitors and former allies. He sought to polish the image of his de facto 'salvation government' that was running Idlib to win over international governments and reassure Syria's religious and ethnic minorities. He also built ties with various tribes and other groups. Along the way, al-Sharaa shed his garb as a hard-line Islamist guerrilla and put on suits for press interviews, talking of building state institutions and decentralising power to reflect Syria's diversity. 'Syria deserves a governing system that is institutional, no one where a single ruler makes arbitrary decisions,' he said in an interview with CNN in the weeks after the ousting of Assad, offering the possibility HTS would eventually be dissolved after some semblance of order is restored to Syria. 'Don't judge by words, but by actions,' he said. Al-Sharaa's beginnings in Iraq Al-Sharaa's ties to al-Qaeda stretch back to 2003, when he joined extremists battling US troops in Iraq. The Syrian native was detained by the US military but remained in Iraq. During that time, al-Qaeda usurped like-minded groups and formed the extremist Islamic State of Iraq, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In 2011, a popular uprising against Syria's Assad triggered a brutal government crackdown and led to all-out war. Al-Sharaa's prominence grew when al-Baghdadi sent him to Syria to establish a branch of al-Qaeda called the Nusra Front. The United States labelled the new group as a terrorist organisation. That designation remains in place, and the US government has put a $10 million (£7.5 million) bounty on him. The Nusra Front and the Syrian conflict As Syria's civil war intensified in 2013, so did al-Sharaa's ambitions. He defied al-Baghdadi's calls to dissolve the Nusra Front and merge it with al-Qaeda's operation in Iraq, to form the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Al-Sharaa nonetheless pledged his allegiance to al-Qaida, which later disassociated itself from ISIS. The Nusra Front battled ISIS and eliminated much of its competition among the Syrian armed opposition to Assad. In his first interview in 2014, al-Sharaa kept his face covered, telling a reporter for Qatari network Al-Jazeera that he rejected political talks in Geneva to end the conflict. He said his goal was to see Syria ruled under Islamic law and made clear that there was no room for the country's Alawite, Shiite, Druze and Christian minorities. Consolidating power and rebranding In 2016, al-Sharaa revealed his face to the public for the first time in a video message that announced his group was renaming itself Jabhat Fateh al-Sham - the Syria Conquest Front - and cutting its ties to al-Qaeda. 'This new organisation has no affiliation to any external entity,' he said in the video, filmed wearing military garb and a turban. The move paved the way for al-Sharaa to assert full control over fracturing militant groups. A year later, his alliance rebranded again as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham - meaning Organisation for Liberating Syria - as the groups merged, consolidating al-Golani's power in northwest Syria's Idlib province. HTS later clashed with independent Islamist militants who opposed the merger, further emboldening al-Sharaa and his group as the leading power in northwestern Syria, able to rule with an iron fist. With his power consolidated, al-Sharaa set in motion a transformation that few could have imagined. Replacing his military garb with a shirt and trousers, he began calling for religious tolerance and pluralism. He appealed to the Druze community in Idlib, which the Nusra Front had previously targeted, and visited the families of Kurds who were killed by Turkish-backed militias. In 2021, al-Sharaa had his first interview with an American journalist on PBS. Wearing a blazer, with his short hair gelled back, the now more soft-spoken HTS leader said that his group posed no threat to the West and that sanctions imposed against it were unjust. 'Yes, we have criticised Western policies,' he said. 'But to wage a war against the United States or Europe from Syria, that's not true. We didn't say we wanted to fight.' Al-Sharaa, the Syrian president In January this year, Syrian military commanders who took part in the ousting of al-Assad appointed al-Sharaa as the interim president, consolidating his power over the country. He was empowered to form a temporary legislative council for a transitional period, and the Syrian constitution was suspended, according to an announcement made by the military command which led the offensive against Assad. Addressing the conference, al-Sharaa said the first priority in Syria was to fill a vacuum in government 'in a legitimate and legal way'. He also said civil peace must be preserved through transitional justice and preventing displays of revenge, that state institutions, foremost among them military and security forces, be rebuilt, and that economic infrastructure be developed. He pledged to embark on a political transition including a national conference, an inclusive government, and eventual elections, which he has said could take up to four years to hold. He has not said when the new legislative body might be picked or provided any new details for a timeline for the transition. The nearly four months since his appointment have been mixed. French president Emmanuel Macron welcomed al-Sharaa in Paris last week to discuss eventually ending sanctions against Syria. But mass killings of hundreds of civilians from al-Assad's minority Alawite sect in March, during clashes between the new security forces and loyalists to the former dictator, hardened fears among minorities that al-Sharaa's promises to protect them were empty. Clashes between Islamist armed factions, security forces and fighters from the Druze religious minority further troubled the country. The US has previously said it would not lift sanctions on Syria unless issues, including the protection of minority rights, are addressed, but whether Mr Trump's meeting with al-Sharaa materialises into a breaking of this policy remains to be seen.
Japan Times
13-05-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Syria makes bid to meet Trump, hoping for sanctions relief and reset with Israel
A Trump Tower in Damascus, a detente with Israel and U.S. access to Syria's oil and gas are part of Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa's strategic pitch to try to get face time with U.S. President Donald Trump during his trip to the Middle East, according to several sources familiar with the push to woo Washington. Jonathan Bass, an American pro-Trump activist, who on April 30 met Sharaa for four hours in Damascus, along with Syrian activists and Gulf Arab states has been trying to arrange a landmark — if unlikely — meeting between the two leaders this week on the sidelines of Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Syria has struggled to implement conditions set out by Washington for relief from U.S. sanctions, which keep the country cut off from the global financial system and make economic recovery extremely challenging after 14 years of grinding war. Signaling a possible shift in Washington's policy, Trump said Monday in response to a query from his Turkish counterpart that he may ease U.S. sanctions. "We're going to have to make a decision on the sanctions ... We may take them off of Syria, because we want to give them a fresh start," Trump told reporters. "Many people have asked me about that, because the way we have them sanctioned, it doesn't really give them much of a start. So we want to see we can help them out. So we'll make that determination," he said. Proponents of more U.S. engagement with Syria hope that getting Trump into a room with Sharaa, who still remains a U.S.-designated terrorist over his al-Qaeda past, could help soften the Republican administration's thinking on Damascus and cool an increasingly tense relationship between Syria and Israel. Part of the bet for the effort is based on Trump's history of breaking with longstanding U.S. foreign policy taboos, such as when he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea in 2019. "Sharaa wants a business deal for the future of his country," Bass said, noting that it could cover energy exploitation, cooperation against Iran and engagement with Israel. "He told me he wants a Trump Tower in Damascus. He wants peace with his neighbors. What he told me is good for the region, good for Israel," said Bass. Sharaa also shared what he saw as a personal connection with Trump: both have been shot at, narrowly surviving attempts on their lives, Bass said. Syrian officials and a presidency media official did not respond to a request for comment. Sharaa spoke with Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday, according to the Syrian presidency. A person close to Sharaa said afterwards that a Trump-Sharaa meeting remained possible in Saudi Arabia, but would not confirm whether Sharaa had received an invitation. "Whether or not the meeting takes place won't be known until the last moment," the person said. 'Push underway' To be clear, a Trump-Sharaa meeting during the U.S. president's visit to the region is widely seen as unlikely, given Trump's packed schedule, his priorities and lack of consensus within Trump's team on how to tackle Syria. A source familiar with ongoing efforts said a high-level Syria-U.S. meeting was set to take place in the region during the week of Trump's visit, but that it would not be between Trump and Sharaa. Syrian interim President Ahmed Sharaa attends an interview at the presidential palace in Damascus, Syria, on March 10. | REUTERS "There is definitely a push underway," said Charles Lister, head of the Syria Initiative at the Middle East Institute. "The idea is that getting to Trump directly is the best avenue because there are just too many ideologues within the administration to get past." Washington is yet to formulate and articulate a coherent Syria policy, but the administration has increasingly been viewing relations with Damascus from a perspective of counterterrorism, three sources including a U.S. official familiar with the policymaking said. That approach was illustrated by the make-up of the U.S. delegation in a meeting last month between Washington and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani in New York, which included a senior counterterrorism official from the State Department, two of the sources said. U.S. officials conveyed to Shibani that Washington found steps taken by Damascus to be insufficient, particularly on the U.S. demand to remove foreign fighters from senior posts in the army and expel as many of them as possible, the sources said. The U.S. Treasury has since conveyed its own demands on the Syrian government, bringing the number of conditions to more than a dozen, one of the sources said. The U.S. State Department declined to disclose who attended the meeting from the U.S. side and said it does not comment on private diplomatic discussions. White House National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt said the actions of Syria's interim authorities would determine the future U.S. support or possible sanctions relief. 'Olive branch' A key aim of Syria's overtures to Washington is communicating that it poses no threat to Israel, which has escalated airstrikes in Syria since the country's rebels-turned rulers ousted former strongman Bashar al-Assad last year. Israel's ground forces have occupied territory in southwestern Syria while the government has lobbied the U.S. to keep Syria decentralized and isolated. Israel has said it aims to protect Syrian minority groups. Syria has rejected the strikes as escalatory. Sharaa last week confirmed indirect negotiations with Israel aimed at calming tensions, after it was reported that such talks had occurred via the UAE. In a separate effort, Bass said Sharaa told him to pass messages between Syria and Israel that may have led to a direct meeting between Israeli and Syrian officials. But Israel soon resumed strikes, including one near the presidential palace, which it framed as a message to Syria's rulers to protect the country's Druze minority amid clashes with Sunni militants. "Sharaa sent the Israelis an olive branch. Israel sent missiles," Bass said. "We need Trump to help sort this relationship out."
Malay Mail
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Trump Tower Damascus? Syria seeks to charm US president for sanctions relief
Syria trying to woo Washington for sanctions relief, engagement Pro-Trump activist says Sharaa making a business-focused pitch Chances of a Trump-Sharaa meeting remain slim US still internally deliberating Syria policy, no consensus yet DAMASCUS, May 13 — A Trump Tower in Damascus, a detente with Israel and US access to Syria's oil and gas are part of Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa's strategic pitch to try to get face time with US President Donald Trump during his trip to the Middle East, according to several sources familiar with the push to woo Washington. Jonathan Bass, an American pro-Trump activist, who on April 30 met Sharaa for four hours in Damascus, along with Syrian activists and Gulf Arab states has been trying to arrange a landmark — if highly unlikely — meeting between the two leaders this week on the sidelines of Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Syria has struggled to implement conditions set out by Washington for relief from US sanctions, which keep the country cut off from the global financial system and make economic recovery extremely challenging after 14 years of grinding war. Bass hopes that getting Trump into a room with Sharaa, who still remains a US-designated terrorist over his al-Qaeda past, could help soften the Republican President and his administration's thinking on Damascus and cool an increasingly tense relationship between Syria and Israel. Part of the bet for the effort is based on Trump's history of breaking with longstanding US foreign policy taboos, such as when he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea in 2019. 'Sharaa wants a business deal for the future of his country,' Bass said, noting it could cover energy exploitation, cooperation against Iran and engagement with Israel. 'He told me he wants a Trump Tower in Damascus. He wants peace with his neighbours. What he told me is good for the region, good for Israel,' said Bass. Sharaa also shared what he saw as a personal connection with Trump: both have been shot at, narrowly surviving attempts on their lives, Bass said. Syrian officials and a presidency media official did not respond to a request for comment. Sharaa spoke with Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday, according to the Syrian presidency. A person close to Sharaa said afterwards a Trump-Sharaa meeting remained possible in Saudi Arabia, but would not confirm whether Sharaa had received an invitation. 'Whether or not the meeting takes place won't be known until the last moment,' the person said. Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa attends an interview with Reuters at the presidential palace, in Damascus, Syria March 10, 2025. — Reuters pic 'Push underway' To be clear, a Trump-Sharaa meeting during the US president's visit to the region is widely seen as unlikely, given Trump's packed schedule, his priorities and lack of consensus within Trump's team on how to tackle Syria. A source familiar with ongoing efforts said a high-level Syria-US meeting was set to take place in the region during the week of Trump's visit, but that it would not be between Trump and Sharaa. 'There is definitely a push underway,' said Charles Lister, head of the Syria Initiative at the Middle East Institute. 'The idea is that getting to Trump directly is the best avenue because there are just too many ideologues within the administration to get past.' Washington is yet to formulate and articulate a coherent Syria policy, but the administration has increasingly been viewing relations with Damascus from a perspective of counterterrorism, three sources including a US official familiar with the policy-making said. That approach was illustrated by the make-up of the US delegation in a meeting last month between Washington and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani in New York, which included a senior counterterrorism official from the State Department, two of the sources said. US officials conveyed to Shibani that Washington found steps taken by Damascus to be insufficient, particularly on the US demand to remove foreign fighters from senior posts in the army and expel as many of them as possible, the sources said. The US Treasury has since conveyed its own demands on the Syrian government, bringing the number of conditions to more than a dozen, one of the sources said. The US State Department declined to disclose who attended the meeting from the US side and said it does not comment on private diplomatic discussions. White House National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt said the actions of Syria's interim authorities would determine the future US support or possible sanctions relief. 'Olive branch' A key aim of Syria's overtures to Washington is communicating that it poses no threat to Israel, which has escalated airstrikes in Syria since the country's rebels-turned rulers ousted former strongman Bashar al-Assad last year. Israel's ground forces have occupied territory in southwestern Syria while the government has lobbied the US to keep Syria decentralised and isolated. Israel has said it aims to protect Syrian minority groups. Syria has rejected the strikes as escalatory. Sharaa last week confirmed indirect negotiations with Israel aimed at calming tensions, after Reuters reported that such talks had occurred via the UAE. In a separate effort, Bass said Sharaa told him to pass messages between Syria and Israel that may have led to a direct meeting between Israeli and Syrian officials. But Israel soon resumed strikes, including one near the presidential palace, which it framed as a message to Syria's rulers to protect the country's Druze minority amid clashes with Sunni militants. 'Sharaa sent the Israelis an olive branch. Israel sent missiles,' Bass said. 'We need Trump to help sort this relationship out.' — Reuters
Al Bawaba
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Bawaba
Ahmed al-Sharaa wants to build Trump Tower in Damascus
Published May 12th, 2025 - 11:46 GMT ALBAWABA - Recent sources are claiming that Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is reportedly interested in building a Trump Tower in Damascus, to help ease the ongoing US sanctions on Syria. According to the US Department of State, the US signed an executive order in May 2003 imposing sanctions and restrictions on Syria after deeming it a State Sponsor of Terrorism in 1979. This comes after Syria's administration reportedly sought a meeting between Al-Sharaa and US President Donald Trump during his visit to the Middle East this week. According to Reuters, the meeting would include proposals such as economic cooperation, regional peace efforts, and the potential for building a Trump Tower in Damascus. — RT (@RT_com) May 11, 2025 Aside from the Syrian administration, pro-Trump American activist Jonathan Bass, who spent four hours with Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Damascus, is pushing for a meeting between the Syrian President and Trump to help ease the decade-long tensions. Among the countries Trump is visiting in the Middle East this week are Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Earlier this May, Eric Trump, the son of the US President, announced that the pre-construction for Trump Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, commenced, marking a significant development for Saudi Arabia's real estate sector and economic growth. New York, NY, USA. August 14, 2024. Iconic shoot of the Trump Tower entrance, the golden metallic lettering is highlighted. The pov enhances the grandeur of the skyscraper. Power and wealth. (Shutterstock) The US President recently sparked outrage for hinting at building a Trump Tower in Gaza. Additionally, he took to his socials and posted an AI-generated video of "Trump Gaza," showcasing luxurious resorts, belly dancers with beards, and several real estate buildings. The video was described as "inhumane" and disrespectful to the displaced Palestinians suffering from the ongoing Israeli aggression in Gaza, which resulted in the killing of more than 52,000 Palestinians and has left at least 119,000 injured, including children and women. © 2000 - 2025 Al Bawaba (
Zawya
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
Trump Tower Damascus? Syria seeks to charm US president for sanctions relief
DAMASCUS/WASHINGTON: A Trump Tower in Damascus, a detente with Israel and U.S. access to Syria's oil and gas are part of Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa's strategic pitch to try to get face time with U.S. President Donald Trump during his trip to the Middle East, according to several sources familiar with the push to woo Washington. Jonathan Bass, an American pro-Trump activist, who on April 30 met Sharaa for four hours in Damascus, along with Syrian activists and Gulf Arab states has been trying to arrange a landmark - if highly unlikely - meeting between the two leaders this week on the sidelines of Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Syria has struggled to implement conditions set out by Washington for relief from U.S. sanctions, which keep the country cut off from the global financial system and make economic recovery extremely challenging after 14 years of grinding war. Bass hopes that getting Trump into a room with Sharaa, who still remains a U.S-designated terrorist over his al-Qaeda past, could help soften the Republican President and his administration's thinking on Damascus and cool an increasingly tense relationship between Syria and Israel. Part of the bet for the effort is based on Trump's history of breaking with longstanding U.S. foreign policy taboos, such as when he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea in 2019. "Sharaa wants a business deal for the future of his country," Bass said, noting it could cover energy exploitation, cooperation against Iran and engagement with Israel. "He told me he wants a Trump Tower in Damascus. He wants peace with his neighbours. What he told me is good for the region, good for Israel," said Bass. Sharaa also shared what he saw as a personal connection with Trump: both have been shot at, narrowly surviving attempts on their lives, Bass said. Syrian officials and a presidency media official did not respond to a request for comment. Sharaa spoke with Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday, according to the Syrian presidency. A person close to Sharaa said afterwards a Trump-Sharaa meeting remained possible in Saudi Arabia, but would not confirm whether Sharaa had received an invitation. "Whether or not the meeting takes place won't be known until the last moment," the person said. 'PUSH UNDERWAY' To be clear, a Trump-Sharaa meeting during the U.S. president's visit to the region is widely seen as unlikely, given Trump's packed schedule, his priorities and lack of consensus within Trump's team on how to tackle Syria. A source familiar with ongoing efforts said a high-level Syria-U.S. meeting was set to take place in the region during the week of Trump's visit, but that it would not be between Trump and Sharaa. "There is definitely a push underway," said Charles Lister, head of the Syria Initiative at the Middle East Institute. "The idea is that getting to Trump directly is the best avenue because there are just too many ideologues within the administration to get past." Washington is yet to formulate and articulate a coherent Syria policy, but the administration has increasingly been viewing relations with Damascus from a perspective of counterterrorism, three sources including a U.S. official familiar with the policy-making said. That approach was illustrated by the make-up of the U.S. delegation in a meeting last month between Washington and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani in New York, which included a senior counterterrorism official from the State Department, two of the sources said. U.S. officials conveyed to Shibani that Washington found steps taken by Damascus to be insufficient, particularly on the U.S. demand to remove foreign fighters from senior posts in the army and expel as many of them as possible, the sources said. The U.S. Treasury has since conveyed its own demands on the Syrian government, bringing the number of conditions to more than a dozen, one of the sources said. The U.S. State Department declined to disclose who attended the meeting from the U.S. side and said it does not comment on private diplomatic discussions. White House National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt said the actions of Syria's interim authorities would determine the future U.S. support or possible sanctions relief. 'OLIVE BRANCH' A key aim of Syria's overtures to Washington is communicating that it poses no threat to Israel, which has escalated airstrikes in Syria since the country's rebels-turned rulers ousted former strongman Bashar al-Assad last year. Israel's ground forces have occupied territory in southwestern Syria while the government has lobbied the U.S. to keep Syria decentralised and isolated. Israel has said it aims to protect Syrian minority groups. Syria has rejected the strikes as escalatory. Sharaa last week confirmed indirect negotiations with Israel aimed at calming tensions, after Reuters reported that such talks had occurred via the UAE. In a separate effort, Bass said Sharaa told him to pass messages between Syria and Israel that may have led to a direct meeting between Israeli and Syrian officials. But Israel soon resumed strikes, including one near the presidential palace, which it framed as a message to Syria's rulers to protect the country's Druze minority amid clashes with Sunni militants. "Sharaa sent the Israelis an olive branch. Israel sent missiles," Bass said.
