BEIRUT (AP) — As an al-Qaida fighter in Iraq, he was detained by the American military. As the leader of a U.S.-designated terror group fighting in Syria’s civil war, he had a $10 million bounty on his head.
As the leader of a fast-changing Syria, Ahmad al-Sharaa shook hands Wednesday with U.S. President Donald Trump, who later described him as a “young, attractive guy” with a “very strong past.”
The handshake, at a meeting orchestrated by the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Turkey, captured al-Sharaa’s long journey from hardened jihadi to the leader of a country that is gradually shedding its pariah status as it cements ties with America’s top allies
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