November 2, 2025, 11:55 amNovember 2, 2025, 11:55 am
Syria’s interim President Al-Sharaa and US President Donald Trump at a meeting in Riyadh. (Archive image, May 2025)Image: keystone
According to state media, Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani has confirmed an upcoming trip by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa to the USA. Al-Sharaa will travel to Washington in November, the state news agency Sana reports. This is supposed to be about reconstruction in Syria.
Several media outlets had previously reported on the planned trip. According to the news portal Axios, al-Sharaa is expected to sign a declaration at the White House with which Syria will officially join the US-led coalition to fight the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS). According to media reports, the visit will take place on November 10th.
In 2014, IS overran large areas in Syria and neighboring Iraq. At times he controlled about a third of Syria and 40 percent of Iraq. The US led an operation to fight IS in which the US military and allies carried out thousands of airstrikes in both countries. IS is considered to have been defeated militarily – but it is estimated that around 2,500 IS fighters are still active in both countries and are also carrying out attacks.
In Syria, long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by the Islamist militia HTS, led by al-Sharaa, almost a year ago. He was appointed interim president and has since been steering the country towards opening and rapprochement with the West. Most sanctions against Syria have been lifted. Trump and al-Sharaa met in Saudi Arabia in May and on the sidelines of the UN general debate in New York in September. (sda/dpa)