The Global Story: The rehabilitation of Syria’s ex-jihadist president

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  Hey there, I'm Asma Khaled.

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  And I'm Tristan Redman.

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  And we're here with a bonus episode for you from the Global Story podcast.

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  On Monday, the Syrian president, Ahmed Al-Sharah,

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  is in Washington and he'll be visiting the White House.

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  Now, if you remember,

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  Al-Sharah became president of Syria after Bashar al-Assad's regime was overthrown about a year ago.

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  But what's notable about Al-Sharah is that he was previously a member of Al-Qaeda.

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  He left the organization in 2016.

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  But last week,

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  the UN Security Council voted in favor of a US resolution to lift sanctions against him.

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  About a month ago on The Global Story,

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  we did an episode about al-Sharah and about Syria's first elections

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  since Assad's fall and since al-Sharah came to power.

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  Now, these elections were a landmark moment in Syria.

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  On the one hand, they were the first Syria's elections that Syria's had in many decades,

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  but they've also faced criticism

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  for favoring well-connected people in the country rather than paving the way for actual democratic change.

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  So we hope you enjoy this episode and to find more of our show,

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  just search for The Global Story, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

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