Welcome to the News Hour. Day two of President Trump's tour of the Middle East brought with it the prospect of a new future for Syria.

Today in Saudi Arabia, a landmark meeting, an American president and a one-time insurgent leader the U.S. once hunted.

President Trump was all smiles as he greeted Syrian interim president Ahmed Al-Shara,

who has traded his fatigues for tailored suits.

And with it, another step for Syria to cement its resurgence and acceptance on the world stage.

We are currently exploring normalizing relations with Syria's new government, as you know.

I am also ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria to give them a fresh start.

It gives them a chance for greatness.

The U.S. first sanctions Syria in 1979, designating it a state sponsor of terrorism.

In 2011, it began imposing a series of additional sanctions after the former

Assad regime launched a brutal crackdown of the popular uprising. The sanctions targeted

not only the Assad government, but insurgent groups in Syria that fought Assad, including

a group known as HTS, which Al-Shara ran for years.

Al-Shara himself was listed as a terrorist by the U.S. and 20 years ago today was

arrested and imprisoned by U.S. forces in Iraq.

The Israelis have some real security concerns when it comes to the new regime in Syria.

This is a regime that grew out of

a group that was affiliated with al-Qaeda and Islamic State. Matthew Levitt directs the counterterrorism

program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

They're concerned that Syria could become a base for Hamas or other Palestinian terrorist groups

again.

They're concerned that HTS, which dominates this new interim government, doesn't have control over all of Syria's territory.

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