Trump meets Syria’s al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia: Abraham Accords on table
Shafaq News/ US President Donald Trump met with Syrian transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday morning, according to a White House official.
During the meeting, attended in person by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and via phone by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump told Sharaa he had "a tremendous opportunity to do something historic in his country," urging him to join the Abraham Accords—an agreement initially brokered by the US during Trump’s first term that calls for Arab states to normalize relations with Israel.
Trump also encouraged al-Sharaa to deport Palestinian fighters, assume control over Islamic State detention sites in northeastern Syria, and cooperate to prevent the group’s resurgence.
In turn, the transitional president reaffirmed Syria’s 1974 disengagement commitments with Israel and invited American companies to invest in the country’s oil and gas sectors.
The discussion comes just one day after President Trump announced the lifting of US sanctions on Syria, a decision he said was made following consultations with Erdogan and bin Salman.
The US president’s Middle East tour began with high-level meetings and economic agreements in Saudi Arabia, including a $600B investment pledge to the US and $142B in US arms sales to the Kingdom.
Trump is expected to depart for Doha later today, where he will meet with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. US-Qatar investment announcements worth hundreds of billions of dollars are anticipated during the visit.
