Syrian President Ahmed Sharaa has arrived in Washington for an official visit, just two days after the US formally revoked his status as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
The former Islamist militant will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, eleven months after his rebel alliance ousted Bashar al-Assad.
Hours before his arrival in the US capital it was announced that Syrian security services had detained dozens of suspected members of the so-called Islamic State group.
Joint efforts to tackle what remains of the group in Syria are expected to be high on the agenda during Sharaa’s talks with Trump.
Syrian authorities said 71 suspected members of the group were arrested, with weapons and explosives also seized.
Since taking power, Sharaa has looked to reestablish Syria’s presence on the world stage after decades of isolation under the Assad regime and 13 years of civil war.
He travelled to the US in September to address the UN General Assembly, where he said Syria was “reclaiming its rightful place among the nations of the world” and called on the international community to remove sanctions.
Earlier this week the UN Security Council backed a US resolution to lift measures, which coincided with Washington continuing a months-long process of gradually easing sanctions on Syria and its new leaders.
On Friday, Sharaa and his interior minister, Anas Hasan Khattab, were removed from a US register of individuals suspected of supporting or funding extremist groups, a decision the Treasury Department said was “in recognition of the progress demonstrated by the Syrian leadership”.
Sharaa had been listed under the name Muhammad al-Jawlani, the alias he used as leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The group was affiliated with al-Qaeda until 2016, when Sharaa severed ties.
Prior to leading HTS, Sharaa fought for al-Qaeda in Iraq and was for a time imprisoned by US forces. He was also subject to an American bounty of $10 million.
The US lifted its sanctions on HTS earlier this year.
Trump previously met Sharaa in May during a visit to Riyadh, where he described him as a “tough guy, very strong past”.
Despite his background, Sharaa has drawn backing from governments that opposed the Assad regime by vowing to lead a moderate government which can win support from Syria’s various ethnic groups and factions.
Earlier this year, he vowed to root out elements of his security forces which were accused of executing members of Syria’s Alawite minority.
Deadly violence has also broken out in recent months between Sunni Bedouin tribal fighters and Druze militias, raising questions over whether the HTS-led government can restore stability to a country defined by war for more than a decade.