Syria will join the international coalition to combat the Islamic State group, marking a shift in US foreign policy in the Middle East, a senior Trump administration official confirmed to CBS, the BBC's US media partner.

The announcement came as President Donald Trump met Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House - the first such visit from a Syrian leader in the country's history.

Diplomatic relations between Syria and the US have been suspended since 2012, although Trump has moved to restore them after the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad, according to BBC.