After Trump's warm words, Syria works to secure a real and lasting thaw

With the dropping of sanctions designed to target the Assads, there is hope for the fledgling state, writes

- Ruth Michaelson, Middle East Correspondent

After a decade with a $10m bounty on his head for leading a jihadist group, the smiling Syrian president shook hands with the leader of the country that had once held him captive in Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib jail. Donald Trump later described the 42-year-old Ahmed al-Sharaa as "a young attractive guy... he's got a real shot at pulling it together".

Trump's sudden decision to meet Sharaa in Riyadh during his trip to the Middle East brought more than heavy symbolism. The US president later told an assembled group of Gulf leaders that "we will be dropping all of the sanctions on Syria ... to give them a chance at a fresh start".

The sanctions had left Syrians feeling cut off from the outside world for decades, and news they would be abolished brought people out into the streets nationwide to celebrate. Huge crowds assembled in squares in Damascus, Homs and Idlib, with many waving green Saudi Arabian flags alongside Syrian ones.

"I am elated to see this happening," the Syrian financial expert Karam Shaar said in a video message, the sound of car horns on the streets of Damascus in the background. "We Syrians deserve a fresh start."