Trump praises Al Sharaa, presses Syria leader on Israel ties after lifting sanctions

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00:01After departing Saudi Arabia and bidding farewell to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,

00:07Donald Trump took a moment aboard Air Force One to reflect on his encounter with new Syrian

00:12President Ahmed al-Sharah.

00:14I think very good, young, attractive guy, tough guy.

00:19It was the first meeting between a US and Syrian leader in 25 years and came despite

00:24concerns within sectors of Trump's administration over al-Sharah's former ties to al-Qaeda.

00:30It was also attended by Prince Mohammed and the Turkish President via videoconference.

00:35We are currently exploring normalizing relations with Syria's new government, as you know.

00:41After discussing the situation with Crown Prince Mohammed and President Erdogan of Turkey,

00:49I am also ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria to give them a fresh start.

00:54The Syrian Foreign Minister said that the 33-minute long meeting included discussions about combating

01:00terrorism and cooperation in eliminating the influence of armed groups that threaten Syrian

01:06stability.

01:07Trump also asked the Syrian government to assume responsibility for over a dozen detention centers,

01:13holding some 9,000 suspected members of the Islamic State Group, currently run by the US-backed,

01:19Kurdish-led forces.

01:21The US President also said he urged al-Sharah to join the US-brokered Abraham Accords, which

01:26normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.

01:32I told them, I hope you're going to join when it's 390 seniors, but they have a lot of fortune.

01:38Israel is a long-time foe of Syria's and continues to describe al-Sharah as a jihadist, though

01:44he severed ties with al-Qaeda in 2016.

01:47Israel has also seized ground in the southwest of the country since Bashar al-Assad fell,

01:52warned the Syrian government against deploying forces there and blown up much of the Syrian

01:57military's heavy weapons.

01:59Nonetheless, Syrian-US normalization efforts are set to continue, with a meeting between

02:04Syria's foreign minister and his US counterpart, Marco Rubio.

02:08Darc.

02:09.

02:11.

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