President Trump says US will remove sanctions on Syria

RIYADH: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (May 13) said he would remove all sanctions against Syria, saying they had served an important function, but it was time for the country to move forward.

"I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness," Trump told an investment forum in Riyadh.

"It's their time to shine. We're taking them all off," Trump said. "Good luck, Syria, show us something very special."

Syria's foreign minister said on Tuesday that President Trump's decision to lift sanctions on Syria was a "pivotal turning point" for the country.

Speaking to Syrian state news agency SANA, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said he welcomed Trump's announcement, calling it a "pivotal turning point for the Syrian people, as we move towards a future of stability, self-sufficiency and genuine reconstruction after years of destructive war".

President Trump is due to meet with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia. Al-Sharaa is a former insurgent who led the overthrow of former leader Bashar al-Assad last year.

The US had been weighing how to handle al-Sharaa since he took power in December. Gulf leaders have rallied behind the new government in Damascus and want Trump to follow, believing it is a bulwark against Iran's return to influence in Syria, where it had helped prop up Assad's government during a decade-long civil war.

Former US President Joe Biden left the decision to the Trump administration, which has not yet formally recognised the new Syrian government. 

As he prepared to leave Washington on a trip to the Middle East, President Trump said he was still weighing removing sanctions on the Syrian government, adding that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged him to do so.

The comments marked a striking change in tone from Trump, who had been deeply sceptical of Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa.

Formerly known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, al-Sharaa joined the ranks of al-Qaida insurgents battling US forces in Iraq after the US-led invasion in 2003, and still faces a warrant for his arrest on terrorism charges in Iraq.

The US once offered US$10 million for information about al-Sharaa's whereabouts because of his links to al-Qaida. He came back to Syria after a nationwide protest movement and ensuing conflict began in 2011, during which he led al-Qaida’s branch known as the Nusra Front. He later changed the name of his group to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and cut links with al-Qaida.