The US has announced a partial suspension of sanctions on Syria after a historic meeting in Washington DC between its new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and Donald Trump. Monday’s meeting was the first summit between a US and Syrian leader at the White House since 1946. The meeting is part of a remarkable turnaround in US-Syrian relations after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, who had prosecuted a deadly civil war in the country from 2011 until his forces collapsed in December 2024. Sharaa, a former al-Qaida-aligned rebel fighter who had previously had a $10m bounty on his head, arrived at the White House on Monday in a dark suit and red tie as he sought to lobby Trump for sanction relief for the former pariah state. Video showed him greeting a crowd of supporters outside in a rare public appearance.