DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syrian Finance Minister Yisr Barnieh made a call to global investors on Wednesday to come do business with Syria after U.S. President Donald Trump's surprise announcement that he would lift all of Washington's sanctions on the country.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday had tea with a former jihadist who until this year had a $10 million US bounty on his head.

Sanctions to be lifted as Washington urges Damascus to cut ties with Palestinian militants and to protect minorities

"He's got the potential - he's a real leader," Trump said on Air Force One after meeting Syrian Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

The day began with pomp in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and ended in Qatar after the U.S. leader was greeted with camels and sped to what he said was a “perfecto” marble palace.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump met with interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, the first encounter between the two nations’ leaders in 25 years and one that could mark a turning point for Syria as it struggles to emerge from decades of international isolation.

Five months after its liberation from the police state of Bashar al-Assad, Syria sometimes looks like a country in civil war. Sectarian clashes have turned into street battles with rockets and mortars.

United States President Donald Trump has announced that Washington is exploring the normalisation of ties with Damascus, following a historic meeting with Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa – the first such encounter in over two decades.