"A painful chapter in the past has been closed. Now we are embarking on a path of development, reconstruction and renewal," al-Sharaa said in Damascus on Tuesday - the day after the country was removed from Washington’s terror list.
Ahmed al-Sharaa took office after the Islamist rebel group HTS, which he led, overthrew Syria’s longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
HTS was previously linked to the al-Qaeda terror network, but has since disbanded, and al-Sharaa’s transformation from jihadism has been widely reported. This summer, he met US President Donald Trump at the NATO summit in Ankara.
The US listing has been in effect since 1979.
