Riyadh, May 13 (AP) President Donald Trump will meet Wednesday in Saudi Arabia with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the onetime insurgent who last year led the overthrow of former leader Bashar Assad.

“The President agreed to say hello to the Syrian President while in Saudi Arabia tomorrow," the White House said.

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The US has been weighing how to handle al-Sharaa since he took power in December. Gulf leaders, have rallied behind the new government in Damascus and will want Trump to follow, believing it is a bulwark against Iran's return to influence in Syria, where it had helped prop up Assad's government during a decade-long civil war.

Then-President Joe Biden left the decision to Trump, whose administration has yet to formally recognise the new Syrian government. Sanctions imposed on Damascus under Assad also remain in place.

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As he prepared to leave Washington, Trump said he's weighing removing sanctions on the Syrian government.

“We may want to take them off of Syria, because we want to give them a fresh start,” said Trump, adding that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged him to do so.

The comments marked a striking change in tone from Trump, who has been deeply sceptical of Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa.

Formerly known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, al-Sharaa joined the ranks of al-Qaida insurgents battling US forces in Iraq after the US-led invasion in 2003 and still faces a warrant for his arrest on terrorism charges in Iraq.

Al-Sharaa, whom the US once offered USD 10 million for information about his whereabouts because of his links to al-Qaida, came back to his home country after the conflict began in 2011 where he led al-Qaida's branch that used to be known as the Nusra Front. He later changed the name of his group to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and cut links with al-Qaida. (AP)

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