(Washington, D.C.) Syrian President El Shaarawy arrived in the United States on Saturday for a historic official visit, becoming the first Syrian president to visit the U.S. in nearly 80 years, after Washington removed him from the terrorist blacklist.
According to Syrian state media, Shaarawy arrived in Washington on Saturday (November 8) and subsequently met with representatives of various Syrian organizations. He will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.
Shaarawy is the first Syrian president to visit the United States since Syria gained independence in 1946. He led opposition forces to overthrow the Assad regime last December. In May of this year, Trump met with Shaarawy for the first time during his visit to the Middle East, in Saudi Arabia, and announced the lifting of most sanctions against Syria.
Shaarawy set foot on U.S. soil for the first time during the UN General Assembly in New York in September, becoming the first Syrian president to address the General Assembly in decades. Washington led a vote in the UN Security Council last week to lift UN sanctions against Shaarawy.
The U.S. State Department decided last Friday (November 7) to remove Shaarawy from the terrorist blacklist. Spokesperson Pigott said that the Shaarawy government has been meeting U.S. demands, including efforts to locate missing U.S. citizens and the destruction of remaining chemical weapons.
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Earlier this month, U.S. Special Envoy for Syria, Ehud Barak, indicated that Ayatollah Shah was expected to sign an agreement to join the U.S.-led international coalition against the Islamic State.
According to a Syrian diplomatic source who spoke to AFP, the U.S. plans to establish a military base near Damascus to coordinate humanitarian aid and monitor developments between Syria and Israel.
On the eve of Shah's visit to the U.S., Syria launched preemptive operations against Islamic State remnants across the country, with security forces arresting 71 people and seizing explosives and weapons in 61 raids.
U.S. officials have previously stated that Washington has been assessing the effectiveness of its efforts to combat Islamic State in Syria.
