Ahmed al-Sharaa has downplayed past affiliation with Al-Qaeda during his first visit to the US

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has downplayed his past links to the terrorist group Al-Qaeda and distanced himself from the 9/11 attacks.

Al-Sharaa, who was removed from the US State Department's "global terrorist" list last week, met with President Donald Trump in the White House on Monday. He had led the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a regional offshoot of Al-Qaeda, which spearheaded a coalition of anti-government forces that seized Damascus in December 2024, toppling Syria's longtime president, Bashar Assad

Speaking to Fox News shortly after meeting with Trump, al-Sharaa described his former affiliation with jihadists as "a matter of the past." When asked if he had any "regrets" over Al-Qaeda's 9/11 attacks, he denied any involvement.

"I was only 19 years old. I was a very young person. I didn't have any decision-making power at the time. I don't have anything to do with it. Al-Qaeda was not present right then in my area," al-Sharaa said. He added that he was "the wrong person" to be linked to the plane hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 Americans on September 11, 2001, which also paved the way for US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

"We mourn for every civilian that got killed," he said.

Although al-Sharaa has pledged to rebuild civil war-torn Syria as an inclusive state, his rule has been marred by sporadic sectarian violence against Druze, Alawite, and Christian communities.

In his Fox News interview, al-Sharaa said Syria and the US need to coordinate efforts against the terrorist group Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS). He also expressed hope that Trump could help negotiate a deal with Israel, which expanded its occupation of southwestern Syria in 2024.

(RT.com)