Sharaa to visit White House in 1st-ever official visit by Syrian president

WASHINGTON

U.S. President Donald Trump will host Ahmad al-Sharaa for talks, a first-ever visit by a Syrian president to the White House, with Damascus hailing the scheduled meeting as “historic visit.”

“President Ahmad al-Sharaa will be at the White House at the start of November,” Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said on Nov. 2 in a speech in the Gulf state of Bahrain.

“Of course, this is a historic visit. It is the first visit by a Syrian president to the White House in more than 80 years.”

"There will be many issues on the table, starting with the lifting of sanctions and opening of a new chapter between the United States and Syria. We want to establish a very strong partnership between the two countries," Shibani added.

A source informed the media that the meeting is expected to take place Nov. 10.

Trump met with al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia in May in what was the first encounter between the two nations’ leaders in 25 years. 

Sharaa in the May meeting became the first Syrian leader to meet an American president since Hafez Assad met Bill Clinton in Geneva in 2000.

The meeting, on the sidelines of Trump’s get-together with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, was seen as a major turn of events for a Syria that is still adjusting to life after the over 50-year, iron-gripped rule of the Assad family.

Syria to join anti-ISIL coalition 

Speaking in a panel in Bahrain, U.S. special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said that Syria is expected to sign an agreement on joining the U.S.-led coalition against ISIL, describing it as “a big step” and “remarkable.”

On Syria- Israel tension, the envoy said, “The path is very clear — that it needs to be to Jerusalem or Tel Aviv for a conversation along with Syria. Syria is showing the way," Barrack said.

The envoy, who also serves as U.S. ambassador to Türkiye, added that Syria and Israel are expected to hold a fifth set of de-escalation discussions.