Why Donald Trump's historic handshake during Middle East visit is so controversial
During his visit to the Middle East, Donald Trump met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and the pair shared a handshake.
Under usual circumstances, this would be quite normal; two world leaders meeting up and shaking hands. However, given the history Ahmed al-Sharaa has with the US, it's actually quite a controversial moment.
The Independent reports that Trump called his Syrian counterpart a 'young, attractive guy' as he announced he was lifting all US sanctions on Syria.
"Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter. He's a real leader. He led a charge and he's pretty amazing," Trump said of Sharaa, who certainly has done some fighting in his life.
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Much of that fighting has been for Islamist groups with links to al-Qaeda, having joined their insurgency against the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, where he was arrested by US forces for planting explosives, and spent five years in custody.
He then formed a group allied with al-Qaeda in Syria called the al-Nusra Front, which was designated a terrorist organisation by the US in 2012, and stayed aligned with them after others joined ISIS until 2016 when he announced he'd broken ties with al-Qaeda.
Going by the name Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani (sometimes spelled al-Golani or al-Joulani), the US at one point put a $10 million reward for information that would lead to his capture.
Going from a terrorist the US was willing to pay millions to find to standing in the same room as the American president and sharing a handshake with him is quite the change.
The al-Nusra Front committed a series of war crimes including massacres, ethnic cleansing, the slaughter of civilians, and suicide bombings.
After the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime, Sharaa became Syria's new president, and a few days later the BBC reported that the US had dropped their $10 million bounty on him.
Elsewhere in Trump's Middle East trip, the US president drew criticism for appearing to fall asleep during a briefing in Saudi Arabia.
He used to insult his predecessor Joe Biden by calling him 'sleepy Joe', but doesn't appear to be in a hurry to call himself something along the lines of 'dozy Don'.
When he arrived in Saudi Arabia to meet the country's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, they signed a number of agreements including $600 billion (£450 billion) worth of Saudi investment in the US.
Air Force One was provided with a fighter jet escort on its approach to Saudi Arabia.
Speaking of Air Force One, Trump is also saying he would accept a $400 million plane gifted from Qatar as a replacement for the presidential plane.
Topics: Donald Trump, Terrorism, US News, World News
Joe Harker