Syria's Ahmed al-Sharaa has transformed himself from al Qaeda militant to Syrian president in a dramatic political rise capped on Wednesday by a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.

The encounter in Saudi Arabia is a milestone for a man who joined al Qaeda in Iraq around the time of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and spent years in U.S. prison there before returning to Syria to join the insurgency against Bashar al-Assad.

The meeting - following Trump's announcement of an end to U.S. sanctions on Syria - is a huge boost for Sharaa as he tries to bring the fractured country under his control and revive its economy, and Trump said he was looking to normalise ties with Damascus.

Sharaa took power after his Islamist fighters launched an offensive from their enclave in the northwest in 2024 and toppled Assad, whose allies Russia and Iran were distracted by other wars.

He was long better known as Abu Mohammad al-Golani, his nom de guerre as commander of the Nusra Front, an insurgent group fighting Assad and for years al Qaeda's official wing in the conflict.

He cut ties with al Qaeda in 2016, gradually recasting his group as part of the Syrian revolution rather than global jihad.

Sharaa swapped combat fatigues for suits and ties after entering Damascus as Syria's de facto ruler in December 2024, promising to replace Assad's brutal police state with an inclusive and just order.

He cited priorities including reuniting Syria, reviving an economy choked by sanctions and bringing arms under state authority. His administration won significant backing from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

But he has struggled to meet his aims as armed groups kept their weapons, sanctions remained and sectarian killings left minority groups afraid of his rule.

Israel, alleging Sharaa remains a jihadist, has declared south Syria off limits to his forces. It said a strike near the presidential palace in Damascus on May 2 was a warning that it would not let Syrian forces deploy south of the capital or allow any threat to Syria's Druze minority.

The challenges were laid bare in March when Assad loyalists attacked government forces in the coastal region, prompting a wave of revenge killing in which Islamist gunmen killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite minority, from which Assad hailed.

It amplified fears about the jihadist roots of Syria's new ruling group despite Sharaa's promises of tolerance and accountability for the killings. Fears of a slide back towards authoritarian rule were hardened by a temporary constitution focusing power in his hands.

Source: Reuters