LONDON: King Charles III on Tuesday hosted Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at Buckingham Palace as the former rebel leader made his first official visit to London and met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The UK monarch held an audience with Sharaa on Tuesday afternoon, Buckingham Palace said. Sharaa was making his first visit to Britain since ousting long-time iron-fisted former president Bashar al-Assad in 2024.

Earlier on Tuesday, Sharaa discussed the war with Iran in talks with Starmer at Downing Street.

The leaders “discussed the need for a viable plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, in the face of the severe economic impact of prolonged closure, and agreed to work with others to restore freedom of navigation,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.

Since Sharaa has been in power, sectarian tensions have continued to cause repeated bloodshed in Syria, while the militant Islamic State group remains at large.

Starmer said he welcomed the Syrian government’s “action” against Islamic State and noted progress on counter-terrorism, the spokesperson said. The British prime minister urged “closer work together on returns (of illegal migrants), on border security, and on tackling people smuggling networks”.

Between 2011 and 2021, nearly 31,000 Syrians were granted asylum in Britain after the civil war there sparked a refugee crisis, according to government statistics.

The president’s visit came after London announced the resumption of diplomatic relations with Syria in July 2025. It followed a visit by then foreign minister David Lammy to Damascus, the first visit to Syria by a British minister in 14 years.

The British government said at the time that its engagement with Damascus was aimed at supporting the country’s political transition and assisting economic recovery as well as reducing illegal migration, and addressing the issue of chemical weapons.

Sharaa met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin on Monday, as he seeks to keep Syria insulated from the repercussions of the current Middle East war.

Europe’s top economy is home to the largest Syrian diaspora in the European Union at more than a million, many of whom arrived during the peak of the migrant influx in 2015-2016.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2026