US President Donald Trump has met with Syria's interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, in Riyadh, saying that the encounter was urged by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The meeting, which came a day after Trump announced he was lifting US sanctions on Syria, is the first such one in 25 years and represents a major turn of events for the Middle Eastern country after years of international exclusion and internal repression while under the rule of former dictator Bashar Assad.

According to the White House, Trump asked the Syrian leader to normalise ties with Israel by joining the so-called Abraham Accords signed by some Gulf Arab states and to deport Palestinian militants.

He also reportedly requested that the new Syrian authorities take control of camps holding captured "Islamic State" fighters, which are currently run by Kurdish guerrillas opposed by Ankara.

Al-Sharaa became Syria's interim leader after leading rebels in a December uprising that toppled autocrat Assad's government.

Israel opposes lifting of sanctions

He was once imprisoned for years in Iraq for his role in the insurgency following the 2003 US-led invasion of that country, having joined the ranks of al-Qaeda rebels under his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Golani.

The lifting of the sanctions on Syria was opposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Israeli officials speaking to The Associated Press.

Israel fears that Syria under its new government and leader with an Islamist past could pose a threat on its northern border.

For his part, Trump has said that lifting the sanctions would "give them [Syrians] a chance at greatness."

This report first appeared on DW. 

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