Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa is visiting Paris on Wednesday for talks with President Emmanuel Macron. It's his first trip to Europe since taking office in January, and a possible opening to broader ties with Western countries.
Al-Sharaa took power after his Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led a dayslong offensive that toppled former President Bashar Assad in December. Assad, a member of Syria’s Alawite minority, ruled for more than two decades.
