“I was only 19, and had nothing to do with 9/11 attacks,” says al-Sharaa in Fox News interview

• Ahmed al-Sharaa: “I was only 19… didn’t have anything to do with 9/11.” 
• Sharaa: Syria won’t enter talks ‘directly right now’ with 'Israel' on Abraham Accords

In an exclusive Fox News interview, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa insisted he had no involvement in the September 11 attacks, saying he was only 19 at the time.

Speaking hours after his historic White House meeting with President Donald Trump, al-Sharaa highlighted Syria’s new role as a US partner in the fight against Daesh and being a potential geopolitical ally.

Fox News introduced the segment by noting that al-Sharaa, once a designated foreign terrorist and is a former leader of an al-Qaeda-affiliated group, is now being treated as an ally of the United States.

The interview came immediately after al-Sharaa’s meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House. Gillian Turner asked him how the meeting went with the “leader of the free world,” adding that being welcomed by Trump is considered “the highest honor somebody can receive here in the United States.”

Al-Sharaa said that over the last 60 years, Syria was isolated from the rest of the world, with a cutoff in relations with the United States. But since the fall of the former regime, Syria has entered a new era, he added, and this will be built into a new strategy with the United States.

Turner asked whether Syria had committed to joining the coalition to fight Daesh in the Middle East. Al-Sharaa responded that Syria had participated in numerous battles against Daesh for ten years, suffering heavy losses, and that any US military presence in Syria should be coordinated with the Syrian government.

She then asked about his past affiliation with Al-Qaeda, noting that just 11 months ago, he was designated by the US government as a foreign terrorist and was on the wanted list. “Times have obviously changed; now you are playing basketball with military leaders here in Washington. What has changed about you in that time?”

Al-Sharaa replied that discussions had been held about lifting sanctions and that the United States decided to lift sanctions on him personally. When asked whether President Trump discussed his past affiliation with Al-Qaeda, al-Sharaa said, “I believe that this is a matter of the past. We didn’t discuss this. We talked about the present and the future, investment opportunities in Syria, and that Syria is no longer looked at as a security threat but rather as a geopolitical ally.”

Regarding the September 11 attacks, al-Sharaa said: “I was only 19 years old. I was really young and didn’t have any decision-making power at that time, and I don’t have anything to do with it.” He added that Al-Qaeda wasn’t even present in his area at the time and said, “So you’re speaking to the wrong person about this subject.”

He emphasized: “We mourn for every civilian that got killed, and we know that people suffer from the war, especially civilians who pay the price.”

On the Abraham Accords, Turner asked whether he agreed that 'Israel' has the right to exist as a sovereign Jewish state, as this is the foundation principle of the accords, stressing that point that President Trump had previously said he would like Syria to join the accords.

Al-Sharaa replied that Syria’s situation differs from other countries that signed the accords. “Syria has borders with Israel, and Israel has occupied the Golan Heights since 1967. We’re not going to enter into a negotiation with Israel right now. Maybe the United States and Mr. Trump’s administration will help us reach this kind of negotiation.”