In a scene few would have imagined, US President Donald Trump on Monday welcomed Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former Al-Qaeda commander once branded
a terrorist by Washington, to the White House. Al-Sharaa, who was once under a $10 million US bounty, stood beside Trump in what marked the first official visit by a Syrian leader to the White House since 1946. A video from the meeting, now going viral, shows Trump presenting al-Sharaa with a bottle of perfume, spraying it on him and joking, "It's the best fragrance… and the other one is for your wife." "How many wives?" Trump asks in a follow-up question. When al-Sharaa replied, "One," laughter filled the room. Trump then landed a playful smack on the leader's shoulder and added, "With you guys, I never know!"
Trump and al-Sharaa's meeting
Trump and Al-Sharaa first met in May in Saudi Arabia. At the time, the US president described Al-Sharaa as a "young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past, very strong past. Fighter." It was the first official encounter between the US and Syria since 2000, when then-President Bill Clinton met with Hafez Assad, the father of Bashar Assad.
Before Al-Sharaa's arrival in the US, the United Nations Security Council voted to lift sanctions on the Syrian president and other government officials in a move that the US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, said was a strong sign that Syria is in a new era since the fall of Assad.
Meanwhile, Al-Sharaa seeks a permanent repeal of sanctions that punished Syria for widespread allegations of human rights abuses by Assad's government and security forces.
He also announced his country's "desire, intentions and readiness" to join the 89 other countries making up the coalition, which have committed to combat IS, but there is no signed agreement, Syrian Minister of Information Hamza al-Mustafa said in a telephone interview with AP.
(With agency inputs)
