President Donald Trump will drop sanctions against Syria and meet with the nation’s new president Ahmed al-Shaara on Wednesday.
‘I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,’ Trump said in a speech in Saudi Arabia.
‘In Syria, which has seen so much misery and death, there is a new government that we must all hope will succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace,’ he went on. ‘So I say good luck, Syria.’
Trump is expected to meet briefly with al-Shaara in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
The nation was cut off from the global financial system under ousted President Bashar al-Assad’s government, amid 14 years of civil war.
Trump called the sanctions ‘brutal and crippling’ but ‘important at the time.
‘In Syria, they’ve had their share of travesty, war, killing many years. That’s why my administration has already taken the first steps toward restoring normal relations between the United States and Syria for the first time in more than a decade.’
Al-Shaara, who previously had a $10 million terrorist bounty on his head by the U.S., had been campaigning hard for a relationship with the U.S. and sanctions relief: he offered a Trump dower in Damascus, detente with Israel and U.S. access to Syria’s oil and gas.
His group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led Assad’s ouster last year. Originally founded as an offshoot of al-Qaeda, has since worked to soften its image and lobbied to be delisted as a terrorist group.
The announcement came on the sidelines of a whirlwind Middle East tour where Trump is traveling to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, whose government leaders were widely expected to press Trump to release the sanctions to help Syria’s economy.
‘Oh, what I do for the crown prince,’ Trump said.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.