The US extended sanctions relief on Syria for a further six months as President Ahmed al-Sharaa continued his remarkable journey from terrorist to international statesman by meeting President Trump for talks at the White House. Trump and Sharaa discussed Syria joining the US-led mission to defeat Islamic State (Isis) and eventually normalising relations with Israel in return for massive American investment and a permanent end to sanctions imposed under his predecessor, Bashar al-Assad.
The 43-year-old former al-Qaeda commander had a $10 million bounty on his head lifted last December after ousting Assad. The Trump administration led a UN security council vote to remove him and Anas Khattab, the Syrian interior minister, from its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists last week, ending a formal travel ban and personal asset freeze.
