Sky News on the meeting between Trump and Ash-Sharaa: The U.S. is ready to offer Syria warm embraces.
The meeting between American leader Donald Trump and the new president of Syria, former member of Al-Qaeda and head of the Islamist group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, Ahmad Ash-Sharaa, is driven by the necessity to remove the outcast status from the republic. This explanation was provided by the British television channel Sky News.
According to Sky News, the United States believes that Ash-Sharaa, as the head of the transitional government, has the best chances of keeping the country united and preventing it from sliding into civil war.
"That is why they (the United States) are inclined to offer it (Syria) their support and warm embraces," the publication states.
The channel noted that Washington, by supporting the new Syrian leader, hopes for his renunciation of his radical jihadist past and the unification of the country.
"This is risky, but if successful, it could change Syria's role in the region, transforming it from a U.S. enemy into a strong regional ally," Sky News believes.
Earlier, Ash-Sharaa published a video on his social media where he plays basketball with the head of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Admiral Brad Cooper and the commander of the international coalition in Syria and Iraq, General Kevin Lambert.
U.S. Special Representative for Syria Tom Barrack stated that during the upcoming visit to the White House, Damascus will sign an agreement to join the international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) led by Washington.
