US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would order the lifting of sanctions on Syria at the behest of Saudi Arabia's crown prince, in a huge boost for interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa as he seeks to stabilise a country shattered by war.Trump made the surprise announcement during a regional tour that began in Saudi Arabia. The White House said Trump would say hello to Sharaa during his Saudi visit, indicating a meeting between the president and a former al Qaeda commander who spent five years in a US prison in Iraq would take place Wednesday.Two sources from the Syrian presidency said Sharaa would travel to Riyadh to meet Trump.The United States imposed tough sanctions on Syria during the rule of Bashar al-Assad, and had kept them in place since he was toppled from power in December after more than 13 years of war.Saudi Arabia has been a leading voice calling for the sanctions to be lifted.Trump said he would remove all sanctions against Syria, saying they had served an important function, but it was now time for Syria to move forward.’I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,’ Trump told an investment forum in Riyadh.’It's their time to shine. We're taking them all off,’ Trump said, ‘Good luck Syria, show us something very special.’Syria welcomed on Tuesday US President Donald Trump's remarks regarding the lifting of sanctions imposed on Damascus, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Shibani said in a statement to Reuters.Al-Shibani said the decision by US President Donald Trump to lift sanctions on Damascus marked a ‘new start’ in his country's reconstruction path, according to a post on X.Shibani thanked Saudi Arabia for facilitating the removal of the US sanctions on Syria.
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