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XWASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump hosted Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House on Monday, a visit that capped a stunning year for the rebel-turned-ruler who toppled a longtime autocratic leader and has since sought to end Syria’s decades of international isolation.

Trump met with Sharaa in the first-ever visit by a Syrian president to Washington, six months after their first meeting in Saudi Arabia, where the U.S. leader announced plans to lift sanctions, and just days after the U.S. said the former al Qaeda commander was no longer a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist.”

Al-Sharaa led the rebel forces that toppled former Syrian President Bashar Assad last December and was named the country’s interim leader in January.

Trump and al-Sharaa — who once had ties

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