RIYADH (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would order the lifting of sanctions on Syria at the behest of Saudi Arabia's crown prince, in a huge boost for interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa as he seeks to stabilise a country shattered by war.
Trump made the surprise announcement during a regional tour that began in Saudi Arabia. The White House said Trump would say hello to Sharaa during his Saudi visit, indicating a meeting between the president and a former al Qaeda commander who spent five years in a U.S. prison in Iraq would take place Wednesday.
Two sources from the Syrian presidency said Sharaa would travel to Riyadh to meet Trump.
The United States imposed tough sanctions on Syria during the rule of Bashar al-Assad, and had kept them in place since he was toppled from power in December after more than 13 years of war.
Saudi Arabia has been a leading voice calling for the sanctions to be lifted.
Trump said he would remove all sanctions against Syria, saying they had served an important function, but it was now time for Syria to move forward.
"I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness," Trump told an investment forum in Riyadh.
"It's their time to shine. We're taking them all off," Trump said, "Good luck Syria, show us something very special."
Sharaa was for years the leader of al Qaeda's official wing in the Syrian conflict, before he severed ties with the global jihadist network in 2016.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the group Sharaa led and which was formally dissolved in January, is designated a terrorist organisation by the United States and the United Nations.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery and Doina Chiacu. Writing by Andrea Shalal and Tom Perry. Editing by Nick Zieminski and Mark Potter)
