(MENAFN) Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has downplayed his past ties to Al-Qaeda and distanced himself from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Al-Sharaa, recently removed from the US State Department’s “global terrorist” list, met with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday. He previously led the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a regional offshoot of Al-Qaeda, which played a central role in toppling longtime Syrian President Bashar Assad in December 2024.

Speaking to a news agency after his meeting with Trump, al-Sharaa described his former jihadist affiliation as “a matter of the past.” When asked about any connection to Al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attacks, he denied 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,” he said.

He further emphasized that he is “the wrong person” to be associated with the plane hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 Americans and triggered US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. “We mourn for every civilian that got killed,” he added.

While al-Sharaa has promised to rebuild Syria as an inclusive state, his tenure has been overshadowed by sporadic sectarian violence targeting Druze, Alawite, and Christian communities.

In the interview, al-Sharaa also stressed the need for Syrian-US coordination against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) and expressed hope that Trump could assist in negotiating a deal with Israel, which expanded its occupation of southwestern Syria in 2024.

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