NEW YORK (AP) — Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa met Monday with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New York, expanding relations with the West and further easing his country’s isolation as he becomes Syria’s first leader to take part in a U.N. high-level meeting in nearly 60 years. They met in a New York conference hall after fighting on opposite sides of the U.S.-led war in Iraq two decades ago. Al-Sharaa urged the United States to remove the remaining sanctions, saying Syria needs help as it comes out of war and crisis. “The Syrian state will work on accountability against those found guilty even if they were the closest people to us,” he said. ___Associated Press writers James Pollard in New York and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.