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Saudi, Turkish leaders encouraged Trump to drop Syria

sanctions

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Next stops Qatar and UAE

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Qatar Airways expected to buy Boeing ( BA ) planes

(Recasts with report of Trump meeting)

By Gram Slattery, Pesha Magid and Andrew Mills

RIYADH, May 14 (Reuters) -

U.S. President Donald Trump began a meeting with Syria's

president in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, according to a

Washington Post pool report, after a surprise U.S. announcement

it would lift all sanctions on the Islamist-led government.

Despite concerns within sectors of his administration over

Syria's leaders' former ties to Al Qaeda, Trump said on Tuesday

during a speech in Riyadh he would lift sanctions on Syria.

The U.S. president has agreed to say hello to interim Syrian

President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who will be in Riyadh for meetings

with the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Trump's first day of a four-day swing through the Gulf region

was marked by lavish ceremony and business deals, including a

$600 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest in the U.S.

and $142 billion in U.S. arms sales to the kingdom.

Later on Wednesday, Trump will fly to the Qatari capital Doha,

where he will participate in a state visit with Emir Sheikh

Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and other officials. Qatar, a key U.S.

ally, is expected to announce hundreds of billions of dollars in

investments in the U.S.

U.S. ally Israel has opposed sanctions relief for Syria, but

Trump on Tuesday said that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin

Salman and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who are both close

to the U.S. president, encouraged him to make the move.

FORMER AL QAEDA COMMANDER

His interactions with Sharaa, a former Al Qaeda commander

who led rebel forces that toppled former Syrian President Bashar

al-Assad in December, will be closely watched as observers gauge

how serious Washington is about resetting its relationship with

Damascus.

Sharaa renounced ties to al Qaeda in 2016.

Trump's visit to Doha was to follow the White House's

announcement this week that it plans to accept a Boeing 747-8

plane, which would be outfitted to serve as Air Force One, as a

gift from the Qataris.

The luxury plane, which would be one of the most valuable gifts

ever received by the U.S. government, would eventually be

donated to Trump's presidential library. It has sparked outrage

from Democrats and bipartisan security concerns. Some officials

have said it could create a perception of corruption, even

absent a quid pro quo.

While the precise details of the investments Qatar plans to

announce on Wednesday were unclear, Qatar Airways was expected

to announce a deal to buy around 100 widebody jets from Boeing ( BA ),

according to a source familiar with the matter.

Following his visit to Qatar, Trump will fly to Abu Dhabi to

meet the UAE's leaders on Thursday. He is then slated to fly

back to Washington on Friday, but he has said he could fly to

Turkey instead for a potential meeting between Russian President

Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.