WASHINGTON

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday met with Republican Congressman Brian Mast as part of efforts to secure the full repeal of the 2019 Caesar sanctions during his historic visit to Washington.

Mast, a pro-Israel lawmaker and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has been an opponent of repealing the Caesar Act, which imposed sweeping penalties on Syria in 2019 following evidence of human rights violations under the rule of Bashar al-Assad.

In a statement after the meeting, Mast said he and Sharaa “had a long and serious conversation about how to build a future for the people of Syria free of war, ISIS and extremism.”

Sharaa, he added, told him Syria seeks to “liberate from the past” and become “a great ally to the United States

“Today, he will meet with President Trump and officially join the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS,” he added.

The meeting came hours before US President Donald Trump met Sharaa at the White House on Monday — the first visit by a Syrian leader to Washington since the country’s independence in 1946.

Trump vowed in May to lift all sanctions on Syria following a brief meeting with Sharaa in Saudi Arabia, later issuing a 180-day waiver, but sanctions imposed by the US Congress under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act remain in effect.

During his visit to Washington, Sharaa also met Republican Representatives Joe Wilson and Marlin Stutzman.

“A free, united, prosperous Syria is the biggest opportunity since the end of the Cold War. We must give Syria a chance and achieve a COMPLETE and TOTAL repeal of Caesar,” Wilson wrote on X following the meeting.