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The United States said on Monday it was partly suspending enforcement of some of its toughest sanctions on Syria for another 180 days as President Donald Trump hosted Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House for landmark talks. Sharaa’s visit capped a stunning year for the rebel-turned-ruler who toppled a long-time autocratic leader and has since sought to end Syria’s decades of international isolation. Trump met Sharaa in the first-ever visit by a Syrian president to Washington, six months after their first meeting in Saudi Arabia, where the US leader announced plans to lift sanctions, and just days after the US said the former al-Qaeda commander was no longer a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist”. In an unusually low-key welcome, Sharaa arrived without the fanfare usually given to visiting foreign dignitaries. He entered through a side door where reporters only got a glimpse instead of through the West Wing main door where cameras often capture Trump greeting VIPs. A pool of reporters that often goes into the Oval Office for such talks was not allowed in. Soon afterwards, the US Treasury Department announced a new order to replace its May 23 waiver on imposition of Caesar Act sanctions, which it said indicated “our commitment to continued sanctions relief for Syria”. It essentially appeared to extend the waiver by another 180 days. Exceptions include “certain transactions involving the governments of Russia and Iran, or the transfer of provisions of Russian-origin or Iranian-origin goods, technology, software, funds, financing, or services”, the Treasury said in a statement. Sharaa, 43, took power last year after his Islamist fighters launched a lightning offensive from their enclave in Syria’s northwest and overthrew long-time Syrian President Bashar al-Assad just days later on December 8. Syria’s regional realignment has since moved at a dizzying pace, away from Assad’s key allies Iran and Russia and towards Turkey, the Gulf and Washington. But even though Trump has already removed many sanctions on Syria, a major stumbling block remains – the 2019 Caesar sanctions, considered the strongest measures. Removing them entirely would require a repeal by the US Congress, which a senior administration official said the administration would fully support. Security was also expected to be a top focus of Sharaa’s meeting with Trump, who in a major US policy shift has sought to help Syria’s fragile transition. The US is brokering talks on a possible security pact between Syria and Israel, which remains wary of Sharaa’s former militant ties. Reuters reported last week that the US is planning to establish a military presence at a Damascus airbase. Syria is also set to join a US-led coalition to fight Islamic State, which could be formally announced at Monday’s White House meeting. Just hours before the landmark talks, word emerged of two separate Islamic State plots to assassinate Sharaa that had been foiled over the past few months, according to a senior Syrian security official and a senior Middle Eastern official. The sources said the plots underlined the direct threat Sharaa faces as he tries to consolidate power in a country ruined by 14 years of civil war. Over the weekend, the Syrian interior ministry launched a nationwide campaign targeting Islamic State cells across the country, arresting more than 70 suspects, government media said. The White House offered no immediate explanation for Sharaa’s muted arrival. Most heads of state are driven up the driveway festooned with their national flags on the north side of the presidential compound. But on Monday there was none of that.
