Despite his Islamist background, al-Sharaa has shown more pragmatic than ideological since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad.

It was a very Trump gloss about Sharaa's old links to al-Qaeda. His Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria until he severed ties in 2016. HTS is still designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN, US and UK.

President Donald Trump called on Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa to sign the Abraham Accords, a move that would recognize Israel’s sovereignty and promote stability in the Middle East. The United States urged Syria to take the historic step of recognizing Israel’s statehood during a meeting between Trump and Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday,