U.S. President Donald Trump and Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack are pushing to lift the economic sanctions on Syria under the Caesar Act, but one Republican congressman stands as a principal obstacle to the White House’s drive to end the law’s application fully and permanently.
On Sunday evening, November 9, Republican Congressman Brian Mast met Syria’s transitional president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, in Washington, one day before al-Sharaa met with Trump at the White House.
Held over dinner, the meeting was described as serious and candid. “We sat for a long time talking about Syria’s future, about a country free of war, ISIS, and extremism. He and I are former soldiers who were once enemies. I asked him directly: Why are we no longer enemies?” Mast said in a statement carried by U.S. media.
According to Mast, al-Sharaa replied that he is seeking “to break free from the past and pursue a noble course for his people and country, and to be a strong ally of the United States.”
Mast did not announce any change in his position on sanctions after the meeting.
Present were Tarek Naemo, a Syrian American entrepreneur, and his wife, Jasmine Naamou. Abdul Hafiz Sharaf, a member of the Syrian community in the United States, quoted them as saying Mast listened to the president closely and took notes in his notebook. Mast said, “What al-Sharaa is saying is extremely important and I need to write it down.”
Al-Sharaa told Mast that “Syria wants peace for its people and the region, wants to fight extremism, and wants to rebuild the country through the economy, which is the path to stability.”
He added that Syria wants American companies to be present and invest in Syria, and that “when there is stability, extremism fades.”
A source familiar with the meeting told Middle East Eye that the encounter was arranged by supporters of President Donald Trump.
Who is Brian Mast
Brian Mast is a Republican congressman from Florida and chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and one of President Trump’s closest political allies.
He previously served in the U.S. Army as an explosives disposal specialist and lost both legs and a finger after being wounded by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in 2010.
After retiring from the U.S. Army, Mast briefly volunteered with the Israeli army and is known for his staunch support for Israel, to the point that he is sometimes seen wearing an Israeli military uniform inside Congress.
According to a report by Middle East Eye, Mast strongly opposes lifting sanctions on Syria under pressure from Ron Dermer, adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who views keeping the Caesar Act in place as a way to hinder Syria’s reconstruction and curb its regional influence.
On November 7, media creator Ayman Abdel Nour reported that the U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee made a personal appeal to Congressman Brian Mast, the House Foreign Affairs Committee chair, to advance the full repeal of the Caesar Act.
What is the Caesar Act
The Caesar Act is a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on November 15, 2016, and signed by President Donald Trump on December 21, 2019 during his first term.
The law mandates sanctions on anyone who provides support to the former Syrian regime, and requires the U.S. president to impose sanctions on states allied with the deposed Assad.
It covers companies, individuals, and countries that provide military, financial, or technical support to the former regime, including Russia and Iran, and targets anyone providing aid for Syria’s reconstruction.
The law is named after the Syrian military defector Farid al-Madhhan, known as “Caesar,” who in 2014 smuggled 55,000 photographs of 11,000 detainees who were killed under torture. The FBI verified the images, which sparked global outrage at the time and were displayed in the U.S. Senate.
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