Syria's President Ahmad Al Shara could be stepping into the White House within days, advancing a transformation from a radical guerrilla with a $10 million US bounty on his head to a figure central to the restoration of American influence in the Middle East.
Experts in Syria predict a security deal with Israel and a joint fight against ISIS could move a step closer when Mr Al Shara is received by US President Donald Trump. Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani, who said the visit will take place in early November, said the visit was "certainly historic".
The trip, the first by a modern Syrian leader to Washington, is aimed at bringing Syria into the US-led ISIS coalition, other American officials said. Mr Al Shara turned against ISIS during the middle stages of his career as an insurgent, which ended when he led Hayat Tahrir Al Sham on an 11-day offensive that toppled the regime of former president Bashar Al Assad in December.
Tom Barrack, the US special envoy to Syria, said in Manama on Sunday that, once in Washington, Mr Al Shara would “hopefully” sign up to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. Mr Barrack signalled this month that some US operations against ISIS and other extremists in Syria had been conducted in co-operation with Mr Al Shara's government.
However, other issues of concern to Washington have remained unresolved. US-brokered security talks with Israel have yet to produce a deal, and the US regards many foreign fighters in Syria who are allies of the new system as a security threat.
Syria's Druze heartland of Sweida has been largely cut off from the rest of the country since a government offensive in July, and integration talks between the government and a US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia in eastern Syria have been inconclusive.
These struggles could affect a pending vote by the US House of Representatives on legislation that includes the removal of sanctions on Syria, imposed under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019. Washington severed diplomatic ties with Syria over the Assad regime's crackdown on a March 2011 uprising. That developed into a civil war, in which HTS and its predecessors eliminated rival rebel groups and became the only formidable anti-regime formation in the country.
Veteran Syrian politician Bassam Ishak said a formal move to join the anti-ISIS coalition would accelerate an end to the “duality” that exists in Syria, under which the government and Kurdish fighters in the SDF has separately been fighting against the extremists.
The two sides have been engaged in renewed talks in the past several weeks to hand over SDF territory and for the group to join the country's security forces. Mr Ishak, who is based in Washington, is a senior member of the Syrian Democratic Council, a civil organisation supported by the SDF, which has forged links with members of Congress.
Mr Ishak expects Mr Trump to push for “a breakthrough” on the Syria-Israel deal when he meets Mr Al Shara. The Syrian leader is not averse to “creating political and security realities that make lifting the sanctions seem as the logical decision to make”, Mr Ishak said. An ideal outcome would be a package deal that “contributes to the stability of Syria, provides Israel with security guarantees, and serves the interests” of the US and its Arab allies.
The US has not disclosed why the security deal has hit snags. Diplomats in the region, however, said that Israel did not seem to want to limit the freedom of action it enjoys in Syria to be restrained by a formal arrangement, while no such constraints are imposed on Turkey, which has thousands of troops in northern Syria. The former Alawite-dominated regime was in the Iranian and Russian orbit until its toppling ushered in Sunni ascendancy.
Saudi Arabia, together with Turkey, helped convince Mr Trump to embark in May on normalisation with the new order in Damascus, as Israel mounted incursions into Syria. In July, Israel bombed Syrian government forces and allied militia in southern Syria amid violence in the mostly Druze governorate of Sweida, prompting Washington to push further for the security deal.
Waiel Olwan, a researcher at the Jusoor Centre for Studies in Damascus, said Mr Al Shara's presence in Washington will give the government more “leeway” in continuing integration talks with the SDF. Regarding the foreign fighters, Mr Olwan said the state has been “containing” them in the new “disciplined” security forces. “There is high level co-ordination with Washington in this file,” Mr Olwan added.
He said a “final product” has not been reached as far as the US-supervised talks with Israel are concerned. However once a security deal is reached, the government will be in a stronger position to integrate Sweida into the state, he said.
Liverpool's all-time goalscorers
Ian Rush 346
Roger Hunt 285
Mohamed Salah 250
Gordon Hodgson 241
Billy Liddell 228
INDIA SQUAD
Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
THE BIO:
Favourite holiday destination: Thailand. I go every year and I’m obsessed with the fitness camps there.
Favourite book: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. It’s an amazing story about barefoot running.
Favourite film: A League of their Own. I used to love watching it in my granny’s house when I was seven.
Personal motto: Believe it and you can achieve it.
RESULTS
1.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,200m
Winner: Lady Parma, Richard Mullen (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).
2.15pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,200m
Winner: Tabernas, Connor Beasley, Ahmed bin Harmash.
2.45pm: Handicap Dh95,000 1,200m
Winner: Night Castle, Connor Beasley, Satish Seemar.
3.15pm: Handicap Dh120,000 1,400m
Winner: Mystique Moon, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson.
3.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: Mutawakked, Szczepan Mazur, Musabah Al Muhairi.
4.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,800m
Winner: Tafaakhor, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
4.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,950m
Winner: Cranesbill, Fabrice Veron, Erwan Charpy.
Pathaan
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Teri%20Baaton%20Mein%20Aisa%20Uljha%20Jiya
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GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
Match info
Liverpool 3
Hoedt (10' og), Matip (21'), Salah (45 3')
Southampton 0
Company%20profile
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North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Company%20Profile
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
Hamilton’s 2017
Australia - 2nd; China - 1st; Bahrain - 2nd; Russia - 4th; Spain - 1st; Monaco - 7th; Canada - 1st; Azerbaijan - 5th; Austria - 4th; Britain - 1st; Hungary - 4th; Belgium - 1st; Italy - 1st; Singapore - 1st; Malaysia - 2nd; Japan - 1st; United States - 1st; Mexico - 9th
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Syria squad
Goalkeepers: Ibrahim Alma, Mahmoud Al Youssef, Ahmad Madania.
Defenders: Ahmad Al Salih, Moayad Ajan, Jehad Al Baour, Omar Midani, Amro Jenyat, Hussein Jwayed, Nadim Sabagh, Abdul Malek Anezan.
Midfielders: Mahmoud Al Mawas, Mohammed Osman, Osama Omari, Tamer Haj Mohamad, Ahmad Ashkar, Youssef Kalfa, Zaher Midani, Khaled Al Mobayed, Fahd Youssef.
Forwards: Omar Khribin, Omar Al Somah, Mardik Mardikian.
The chef's advice
Troy Payne, head chef at Abu Dhabi’s newest healthy eatery Sanderson’s in Al Seef Resort & Spa, says singles need to change their mindset about how they approach the supermarket.
“They feel like they can’t buy one cucumber,” he says. “But I can walk into a shop – I feed two people at home – and I’ll walk into a shop and I buy one cucumber, I’ll buy one onion.”
Mr Payne asks for the sticker to be placed directly on each item, rather than face the temptation of filling one of the two-kilogram capacity plastic bags on offer.
The chef also advises singletons not get too hung up on “organic”, particularly high-priced varieties that have been flown in from far-flung locales. Local produce is often grown sustainably, and far cheaper, he says.
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The%20Mother%20
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Company%C2%A0profile
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani