Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is expected to visit Washington “around Nov. 10,” US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack confirmed Saturday, according to the Reuters news agency.
The visit would mark the first time a Syrian head of state has officially traveled to the US capital.
Speaking at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, Barrack said the US hopes Syria will “hopefully” join the American-led coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization. “We are trying to get everybody to be a partner in this alliance, which is huge for them,” he told reporters.
A Syrian source familiar with the matter said the visit is expected within the next two weeks. Sharaa previously addressed the UN General Assembly in New York in September, where he also met President Donald Trump.
Since taking power from Bashar Al-Assad last December, al-Sharaa has embarked on a series of foreign visits aimed at restoring Syria’s ties with global powers that distanced themselves during Assad’s rule.
Al-Sharaa, who once led Syria’s Al-Qaeda offshoot, broke away from the network a decade ago and later clashed with ISIS forces. The US-led coalition drove Islamic State from its final Syrian stronghold in 2019, but the group has attempted to regroup following Assad’s fall.
Barrack also said that Syria and Israel are engaged in US-mediated de-escalation talks. He said the two sides are close to an agreement, though declined to specify a timeline.
Damascus reportedly hopes the deal will halt Israeli airstrikes and lead to the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Syria.
Recently, al-Sharaa told reporters in Damascus that ongoing negotiations with Israel on a security pact could lead to results "in the coming days"
Sharaa stated that if the security pact is successful, it could lead to “additional agreements”, but also clarified that a normalization or peace deal with Israel are not on the table at this time.
An August report stated that the Trump administration is actively working to broker a preliminary security understanding between Israel and Syria ahead of the United Nations General Assembly meeting this month.
However, Barrack later clarified that Israel and Syria are not close to signing a security agreement, adding that “there is still more work to do.”