Overview
- Al‑Sharaa reached the U.S. on Saturday and is scheduled to meet President Trump at the White House on Monday during an official visit.
- The State Department removed him from its terrorism blacklist on Friday after the Security Council lifted U.N. sanctions, citing steps on locating missing Americans and eliminating remaining chemical weapons.
- U.S. envoy Tom Barrack said he hopes Al‑Sharaa will sign Syria into the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS during the visit.
- Syria’s Interior Ministry announced a nationwide operation targeting ISIL cells, reporting 61 raids, 71 arrests and seizures of explosives and weapons across multiple provinces.
- News agencies, citing a diplomatic source, reported U.S. planning for a military presence near Damascus to coordinate aid and observe Syria–Israel developments, as Al‑Sharaa seeks reconstruction support pegged by the World Bank at about $216 billion.