Syria’s president: from Al-Qaeda to White House guest

The visit of Syria’s interim president to Washington has once again showcased the ambivalence of US counter-terrorism policy, which changes according to temporal interests

by Aseel Saleh

Part 1

Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa arrived in Washington on Monday, November 10, to discuss various issues of mutual interest with US President Donald Trump.

The occurrence, which marks Al-Sharaa’s first visit to the United States has stirred controversy, and invited the mockery of critics, as it came a mere two days after Al-Sharaa was removed from the US Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) sanctions list.

This in turn has exposed the ambivalence of US counter-terrorism policy, which apparently designates or revokes persons and organizations from terrorism lists based on US interests at any given moment.

One day before being revoked from the SDGT sanctions list, the United Nations Security Council had also adopted a US resolution to remove Al-Sharaa and his Interior Minister, Anas Khattab, from sanctions targeting members and supporters of terrorist groups, including ISIS and Al-Qaeda.

Furthermore, Al-Sharaa’s visit followed the onset of a large-scale military campaign by Syria’s government forces on Saturday, November 8, against “terrorist cells” affiliated with ISIS in different governorates, according to the Syrian Ministry of Interior.

Source, links:

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/11/13/syrias-president-from-al-qaeda-to-white-house-guest/

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