Summary
- Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to meet Trump November 10.
- Syria expected to join US-led coalition against Islamic State.
- Announcement made by US envoy Tom Barrack in Bahrain.
The gathering will be the first time the White House has ever hosted a Syrian head of state. It will also highlight Sharaa's remarkable transformation from a fervent jihadist who wanted to murder American soldiers in Iraq to a polished politician courting world leaders.
After exiting the conference stage, Barrack informed a group of reporters that the Syrian president will be joining 88 other nations that are partners in the coalition that was formed in 2014 when ISIS marched through Syria and Iraq and created its deadly "caliphate."
“We are trying to get everybody to be a partner in this alliance, which is huge for them,”
Barrack said.
In 2019, coalition forces and their closest ground abettors, the Kurdish- led Syrian Popular Forces( SDF), eventually overthrew the jihadis'quasi-state.
Top Western and indigenous leaders, including spymasters and foreign ministers, attended the conference, which was hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and Barrack was one of the prominent speakers. Among those in attendance was US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
In many respects, Sharaa views joining the US-led coalition against ISIS as a formality.
For nearly ten years, Sharaa has been secretly working with the US to combat the jihadis, exchanging intelligence on the locations of important ISIS and al-Qaeda figures in and around the northern Idlib province.
Before capturing Damascus, Sharaa and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, two of Syria's most hardline radical Islamist groups, controlled Idlib. Until recently, Western nations, including the United States, classified them as terrorists.
How might this affect US relations with Turkey and Gulf states?
Relations may ameliorate due to increased cooperation on Syria. Turkey played a crucial part in the defeat of Assad and supports the interim Syrian government led by Ahmed al- Sharaa, aligning with Washington's current strategy.
This trilateral cooperation can strengthen Turkey’s indigenous influence and its cooperation with the U.S. Turkey benefits from the stabilization sweats and may coordinate reconstruction plans and counterterrorism operations with the U.S. and Syria. Still, long- standing pressures over Kurdish groups and indigenous intentions remain an underpinning challenge.
Gulf countries similar as Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been recalibrating ties with Turkey, moving toward détente amid indigenous battles. The U.S. is keen on stabilizing the Middle East and encouraging reduced conflict between crucial players.