Syrian President meets with US President in first-ever White House visit by Syrian head of state

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Monday arrived at the White House for a meeting with the President of the United States, marking the first high-level contact between the two nations in years.

According to Reuters, al-Sharaa entered the White House through a side entrance, avoiding the main press area and going unnoticed by journalists and photographers.

Before assuming Syria’s presidency, al-Sharaa led the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham group, which had links to al-Qaeda. Ahead of his visit, the US Government removed Sharaa from its list of globally designated terrorists.