President Donald Trump is to meet the Islamist leader of Syria amid reports a Trump Tower could be built in Damascus as part of desperately-needed investment.
Despite still being designated a terrorist by the US, Ahmed al-Sharaa is scheduled to hold talks with the president in Riyadh on Tuesday, hosted by Mohammed Bin Salman, the Saudi Crown Prince.
The meeting, on the opening day of Mr Trump’s visit to the Middle East, could offer a lifeline to the country’s new regime.
The 42-year-old Syrian leader has reportedly offered Mr Trump investment opportunities, including a Trump tower in Damascus, and is seeking US sanctions relief.
The meeting is likely to cause concern in Israel, which has consistently referred to Mr al-Sharaa as a “terrorist in a suit”.
As head of the Islamist rebel group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Mr al-Sharaa led a lightning takeover of Syria in December, overthrowing the dictator Bashar al-Assad and ending 13 years of civil war.
Also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani, the Syrian joined al-Qaeda in Iraq shortly before the 2003 US invasion and fought for three years against coalition forces as part of the insurgency.
He spent five years in prison after being captured by the Americans, and subsequently had a brief association with Islamic State, before denouncing the group and, later, jihadism in general.
Mr Trump is scheduled to meet him alongside Mahmoud Abbas, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, and Joseph Aoun, the new Lebanese president.
Saudi Arabia has invested significant resources in helping Syria get back on its feet after the long civil war and the kleptocracy of the Assad family, and is likely to have lobbied the White House for this meeting.
Despite the regional support, a lifting of US sanctions against Syria – which would, among other things, allow the country to join the international financial system – is seen as crucial for the future of the regime.
However, the image of the HTS-led interim government has been tarnished in recent weeks by reports of atrocities against the Alawite and Druze minorities, the latter of which is a group heavily backed by Israel, which has bombed Damascus in a warning against further violence.
Despite the killings, Jonathan Bass, a pro-Trump activist, reportedly met Mr al-Sharaa for several hours in Damascus in late April.
He subsequently said the leader is seeking a “big business deal for his country”.
“He told me he wants a Trump Tower in Damascus. He wants peace with his neighbours. What he told me is good for the region, good for Israel,” said Mr Bass.
The American said Mr al-Sharaa believed he also shared a connection with Mr Trump in the sense that both of them had survived shooting attempts.
Any discussions – even preliminary – of investment deals in Syria would fit the theme of Mr Trump’s visit, when he is expected to announce high-value agreements, including arms transactions, with Saudi Arabia, the United Emirates and Qatar.
The Syrian leader recently met French president Emmanuel Macron, and has received indications of support from several other continental European governments, as well as senior EU figures.