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US President Donald Trump welcomed Syria's interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, to the White House on Monday, the first visit by a Syrian head of state since independence in 1946, as Damascus is expected to officially join the US-led coalition against the so-called Islamic State group.
"Part of the president's diplomatic efforts to meet with anyone around the world in search of peace," White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt said of the visit.
The meeting follows their May meeting in Saudi Arabia, the first official US-Syrian contact since Bill Clinton met Hafez Assad in 2000.
Trump described al-Sharaa after the meeting in Riyadh as a "young, attractive guy. Strong guy. Strong background, very strong background. Fighter."
The US president recently said that al-Sharaa is "doing a very good job so far" and that "a lot of progress has been made with Syria" since Washington eased sanctions.
The talks are expected to see Damascus officially join the US-led coalition against ISIS, a move that will allow it to work more closely with American armed forces.
Syrian President Ahmed Sharaa has arrived in Washington for an official visit, just two days after the United States removed his name from the list of people designated as "Specially Designated Global Terrorists."
Since taking power, Sharaa has tried to restore Syria's presence on the international stage, after decades of isolation under the Assad regime and 13 years of civil war.
In September, he traveled to New York to attend the UN General Assembly, where he declared that Syria was "restoring its rightful place among the nations of the world" and called for the lifting of international sanctions.
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