MANAMA: Syria's president will discuss issues including lifting remaining sanctions, reconstruction and counter-terrorism when he becomes the country's first leader to pay an official visit to Washington later this month, the foreign minister said. Ahmed al Sharaa is expected in the US capital in early November, Syria's top diplomat Asaad al Shaibani told a panel at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain.
"This visit is certainly historic," he said. "Many topics will be discussed, starting with the lifting of sanctions," Shaibani said, adding: "Today we are fighting (the IS)... any effort in this regard requires international support." Discussions will also revolve around reconstruction after more than a decade of war, he said. The foreign ministry in Damascus confirmed the trip would be the first ever visit to the White House by a Syrian president.
US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said Sharaa was heading to Washington "hopefully" to sign an agreement to join the international US-led alliance against the IS. It will be the second to the US after a landmark UN trip in September, where he became the first Syrian president in decades to address the UN General Assembly. — AFP
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