Syrian President Ahmed Sharaa has arrived in Washington for an official visit, just two days after the US formally revoked his status as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

The former Islamist militant will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, eleven months after his rebel alliance ousted Bashar al-Assad.

Hours before his arrival in the US capital, it was announced that Syrian security services had detained dozens of suspected members of the Islamic State group. Joint efforts to tackle what remains of the group in Syria are expected to be high on the agenda during Sharaa's talks with Trump.

Syrian authorities said 71 suspected members of the group were arrested, with weapons and explosives also seized. Since taking power, Sharaa has worked to reestablish Syria's presence on the world stage after decades of isolation under the Assad regime and thirteen years of civil war.

He traveled to the US in September to address the UN General Assembly, stating that Syria was reclaiming its rightful place among the nations of the world and calling on the international community to remove sanctions.

Earlier this week, the UN Security Council backed a US resolution to lift punitive measures, coinciding with Washington's ongoing process of gradually easing sanctions on Syria and its new leaders.

On Friday, Sharaa and his interior minister, Anas Hasan Khattab, were removed from a US register of individuals suspected of supporting or funding extremist groups, a decision the Treasury Department described as in recognition of the progress demonstrated by the Syrian leadership.

Sharaa had previously been listed under the name Muhammad al-Jawlani, the alias he used as leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group that had ties to al-Qaeda until 2016, when Sharaa severed those ties. Prior to leading HTS, Sharaa fought for al-Qaeda in Iraq and was at one time imprisoned by US forces, with a bounty of $10 million placed on his head.

Sharaa has received backing from governments opposing the Assad regime, pledging to lead a moderate government capable of earning the support of Syria’s diverse ethnic groups and factions.

In recent months, violence has erupted between Sunni Bedouin tribal fighters and Druze militias, raising concerns over whether the HTS-led government can restore stability to a nation scarred by over a decade of war.