President Trump sent a short handwritten letter to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former al-Qaeda leader who took power in Damascus with his group of jihadists, known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), nearly one year ago.
“Ahmed, you will be a great leader — and the United States will help!” Trump said in the note, which was delivered by Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey, who has also served as an envoy to Syria. Attached to the letter was a photo of Trump and Sharaa’s Oval Office meeting that took place last month.
Barrack met with Sharaa in Damascus on Monday, and, according to the Syrian Presidency, they discussed “the latest developments in the region and issues of common interest.”
The Trump administration has embraced Sharaa despite his al-Qaeda past, which involved fighting against US troops in Iraq and founding the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, known as the al-Nusra Front, which eventually became HTS when Sharaa rebranded and claimed he was cutting ties with al-Qaeda. Sharaa was previously known by his al-Qaeda nom de guerre, Abu Mohammad al-Julani.
The Trump administration has not just lifted sanctions on Syria to give the country a chance to rebuild, but it is also forming a military alliance with the new HTS government, which formally joined the US-led anti-ISIS coalition, though there is fluidity between HTS fighters and ISIS members in Syria. Sharaa himself was once an associate of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the founder of ISIS.
President Trump has also urged Israel to pursue dialogue with Syria’s government amid Israeli military operations in southwest Syria. Following the ousting of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which Israel supported and celebrated, Israeli forces invaded southwestern Syria and have occupied the territory ever since.
