Juviera was unimaginable just a year ago. This month, Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara will become the first country’s leader to visit Washington, where he will be received by the American president at the White House. Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to woo former Ihad fighters from around the world, for whom the US government has offered a $10 million (new €1 million) bounty for their chiefs over the past decade. Last month, the United States and Britain lifted sanctions against him a day after the UN Security Council’s announcement, while the European Union confirmed it was lifting sanctions on its own.
Washington and London also lifted sanctions weighing heavily on Syrian Interior Minister Anas Jatab, following instructions from the State and Foreign Ministries, respectively. “These steps were taken in recognition of the progress made by the Syrian leadership after the march of Bachar el-Assad, the dictator who ruled for more than 20 years and suffered a series of regime collapses late last year,” the State Department said. Some of the advances mentioned in this statement include fighting drugs, contributing to regional security, and eliminating chemical weapons.
A day earlier, EE UU Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Walz hailed the UN Security Council’s lifting of sanctions on Syria as a “solid political sign” for Damascus to recognize that it has entered a “new era”.
Both al-Shara (now known by its wartime name Abu Mohammed al-Julani) and Jatab are on the US list of specially designated global terrorists and are subject to sanctions due to their ties to the Islamic State (ISIS) and al-Qaeda. In May, President Trump announced the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria, marking a 180-degree reversal of traditional U.S. policy toward the Eastern Mediterranean nation.
La Casablanca has decided to perform an act of faith against the new Syrian regime, despite being aware of concerns about the outbreak of violence against minorities in the south and coastal areas. For the US government, Syria plays a key role in Near East issues and its strategy to redesign the structure of alliances in the region. Western sources with knowledge of the situation on the ground say good relations with Damascus are essential for the Trump administration to ensure Israel’s security, prevent Russia from regaining the influence it has wielded in Arab countries for decades, and prevent a resurgence of Islamic State and related groups in the region.
For the regime formed in the wake of the blitzkrieg led by Hayat Tahrir el-Sham, the al-Qaeda-affiliated rebel group that toppled el-Assad (until 2016 led by al-Sharay), it is vital that Syria reconnects with the rest of the world, gains international legitimacy and receives more than $200 million in reconstruction aid. According to the World Bank, economic and diplomatic relations with Western countries can be developed.
The US president greeted Al Shara at a meeting hosted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during Trump’s visit to Riyadh last May. It’s like a connection hub between them. The Republican used the most complimentary word in his vocabulary to describe Syrians. He is a “young and attractive type” who has “potential and is a true leader.”
Al Shara landed in Washington on Saturday, the same day the Syrian government announced that 61 conscription operations had been carried out in different regions of the country, ending with the arrest of 71 ISIS suspects. While in Washington, al-Shara may sign some sort of cooperation agreement with the U.S.-led international coalition against Islamic State. The Syrian army has collaborated several times with the coalition, which also conducts operations against ISIS cells in the region.
According to Reuters, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM, whose territory includes the Near East) is preparing to establish a U.S. air base south of Damascus to strengthen the Syrian government’s efforts to regain control of the multi-ethnic country after three years of civil war.
President Trump may also insist on the message he sent to al-Sharah during the Riyadh meeting, that Syria is interested in joining the Abraham Accords as several Muslim-majority countries begin the process of normalizing relations with Israel. The Abraham Accords represent great pride in his first term, and the Republican Party has great interest in revitalizing and expanding it. A few days ago, Kazakhstan, the largest country in Central Asia, united in a symbolic reaching step in which Astana would maintain diplomatic and economic ties with Israel.
However, Damascus does not appear to have much interest in normalizing relations with its neighbor, which has occupied parts of the southern Golan Heights territory, where the current Syrian president’s family is from, since the 1967 Six-Day War, and which has recently encroached further into Syria’s territory in claims of national security.
The current Syrian president was captured by US forces in Iraq in 2006 and spent five years without trial in prison, imprisoned in multiple detention centers and tortured by US forces. These include Camp Bucca and the infamous Abu Ghraib prison, synonymous with crimes and abuses against American soldiers and prisoners.
Before the Riyadh salute, the last time an American president and a Syrian leader met was in Ginebra in 2000, when Bill Clinton and Bashar’s cleric Hafez el-Assad tried unsuccessfully to reach peace between Syria and Israel after years of contacts provided by the 1991 Madrid conference.
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