US Special Envoy Tom Barrack said the previous day that Sharaa would visit Washington, with a White House official later saying the visit would happen around Nov 10.

“There will be many issues on the table, starting with the lifting of sanctions and opening of a new chapter between the United States and Syria. We want to establish a very strong partnership between the two countries,” Shibani added.

According to the US State Department, no previous Syrian president has paid an official visit to Washington. Sharaa addressed the UN General Assembly in New York in September.

Since seizing power from Bashar al-Assad last December, Sharaa has made a series of foreign trips as his transitional government seeks to re-establish Syria’s ties with world powers that had shunned Damascus during Assad’s rule.