Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of jihadist terror group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), reportedly offered oil and gas concessions, peaceful relations with Israel, and even a new Trump Tower in the capital of Damascus as inducements for President Donald Trump to meet with him during Trump’s visit to the Middle East this week.
The report came from Jonathan Bass, CEO of Louisiana-based natural gas company Argent LNG and a strong Trump supporter. Bass flew to Damascus last week and met with Sharaa to discuss proposals for Western companies to help develop Syria’s oil resources.
Bass had a four-hour meeting with Sharaa on Wednesday, during which the Syrian leader seemed agreeable to Bass’s proposals but said it would be necessary for the United States to normalize relations with his government before they could strike any deals.
This could prove to be a tall order because Sharaa and HTS began as a splinter group of al-Qaeda. HTS has struggled to rebrand itself as a Syrian nationalist group focused on overthrowing Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, rather than part of an international terrorist organization. Sharaa traded in his combat fatigues for a business suit and announced his intention to preside over a more inclusive style of Islamist government that would protect the rights of ethnic and religious minorities.
Western governments have been very reluctant to lift sanctions on Syria and embrace a junta ruled by former members of al-Qaeda.
Sharaa is clearly hoping Trump might break the ice by giving him a meeting, paving the way for other Western governments to do the same. Sharaa has been attempting to convince the world that reconstructing Syria, and resolving the terrible humanitarian crisis caused by its long civil war, will not be possible while sanctions imposed against the Assad regime remain in place.
“Sharaa wants a business deal for the future of his country. He told me he wants a Trump Tower in Damascus. He wants peace with his neighbors. What he told me is good for the region, good for Israel,” Bass said.
Another card Sharaa might be willing to play is helping the Trump administration negotiate with Iran. The Iranians were major political and military supporters of the Assad regime, so Iran is not well-liked among the victorious rebels. Neither is Iran’s regional military proxy, the Hezbollah terrorists of Lebanon.
Trump said on Monday that his administration will “have to make a decision on the sanctions” soon to give Syria a “fresh start.”
“Many people have asked me about that, because the way we have them sanctioned, it doesn’t really give them much of a start. So we want to see if we can help them out. So we’ll make that determination,” the president said.
There were few indications on Monday that Sharaa’s quest to meet with Trump in person would succeed. A high-level U.S.-Syria meeting is rumored to be in the planning stages during Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but Trump himself is not believed to be involved.
A major sticking point in relations between the U.S. and Sharaa’s government, made clear to Sharaa’s foreign minister Asaad al-Shibani during his meeting with State Department officials in New York in late April, is that Washington wants foreign jihadis frozen out of positions in the new Syrian government. The U.S. also wants to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles and maintain bases for counter-terrorism activity.
“We continue to assess our Syria policy cautiously and will judge the interim authorities by their actions. We are not normalizing diplomatic relations with Syria at this time,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said two weeks ago after Shibani’s trip to New York.
Sharaa spoke by telephone with the de facto chief executive of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), on Sunday. Sharaa’s office said MBS “reiterated the Kingdom’s commitment to supporting Syria’s security and stability, encouraging political solutions that preserve the country’s unity, and contributing to its reconstruction.” There was no explicit mention of whether Sharaa was invited to visit Saudi Arabia during Trump’s trip to the Middle East.
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