Syria authorities name Sharaa interim president: state media

The National Times - Syria authorities name Sharaa interim president: state media

Syria authorities name Sharaa interim president: state media / Photo: © Syria's Transitional Government/AFP/File

Syria's new authorities announced Wednesday that Ahmed al-Sharaa, who took the helm after Bashar al-Assad's ouster last month, has been appointed interim president and tasked with forming a transitional legislature, state media reported.

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Sharaa was appointed "as the country's president in the transitional phase", state news agency SANA reported, quoting military official Hassan Abdel Ghani, without specifying a timeframe.

A rebel alliance led by Sharaa's Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ousted Assad on December 8 after a lightning offensive, ending five decades of his family's iron-fisted rule.

The rebels installed a transitional government headed by Mohammad al-Bashir to steer the country until March 1.

Sharaa was tasked with forming "a temporary legislative council... until a permanent constitution for the country is decided", SANA said, adding that the Assad-era parliament had been dissolved and the 2012 constitution suspended.

Abdel Ghani also announced the dissolution of all armed groups involved in Assad's ouster, as well as the former government's army and security agencies.

"All military factions are dissolved... and integrated into state institutions," alongside "the dissolution of the defunct regime's army" and security agencies, Abdel Ghani told SANA.

They would be replaced by the "reconstruction of the Syrian army" and the formation of "a new security apparatus that preserves citizen's security".

The Syrian army has effectively collapsed, along with the other instruments of Assad's rule.

The Baath party which ruled Syria for decades was also dissolved, SANA reported.

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S.O'brien--TNT

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The National Times - Syria authorities name Sharaa interim president: state media