US President Donald Trump on Wednesday had tea with a former jihadist who until recently had a $10 million US bounty on his head.

But the country must also modernise monetary policy, rewire banking and reconnect with global markets, argues Abdulkader Husrieh

Five months after its liberation from the police state of Bashar al-Assad, Syria sometimes looks like a country in civil war. Sectarian clashes have turned into street battles with rockets and mortars.

Syrian Finance Minister Yisr Barnieh made a call to global investors on Wednesday to come do business with Syria after U.S. President Donald Trump's surprise announcement that he would lift all of Washington's sanctions on the country.

President Donald Trump has met with interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia. It's the first encounter between the two nations’ leaders in 25 years and one that could mark a turning point for the region as Syria struggles to emerge from decades of international isolation.

The US president gets a "lavender-carpet" reception on a whirlwind visit of Gulf countries mainly focused on shoring up investment.

The foreign ministers of Turkey, the United States and Syria will meet in southern Turkey on Thursday to discuss details of U.S. President Donald Trump's pledge to lift sanctions on Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Wednesday.