Rebels declare Ahmad Al Shara President of Syria

Al Shara leads Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, which was behind last month's toppling of Bashar Al Assad

Syria's new transitional President, Ahmad Al Shara. Syria Transitional Government / AFP

A rebel coalition that overthrew Bashar Al Assad on Wednesday declared Ahmad Al Shara President of Syria, in a consolidation of power for the man who played the main role in toppling the former regime.

“We declare the taking over of commander Ahmad Al Shara of the presidency of the country,” Col Hassan Abdul Ghani, spokesman for the rebel umbrella group known as the Operations Room, said after the group met.

It is dominated by Mr Shara's Hayat Tahriri Al Sham, which traces its origins to Al Qaeda and Al Nusra Front. Col Abdul Ghani said Mr Al Shara would be president for a "transitional phase", without specifying how long.

Syrian rebel leader Al Shara meets international delegations - in pictures

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  Ahmad Al Shara, leader of the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham militant group that toppled Syria's Bashar Al Assad, meets UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen in Damascus on December 15. AFP

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  Mr Al Shara with Stephen Hickey, centre, director of the Middle East and North Africa department at Britain's Foreign Office, and Ann Snow, UK special representative for Syria. AFP

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  The Syria rebel leader speaks with the delegation from the UK Foreign Office.

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  Mr Al Shara receives Germany's Middle East envoy Tobias Tunkel, in Damascus.

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  The Syrian rebel chief, second left, with members of a German Foreign Ministry delegation, in Damascus. AFP

The constitution that was in place under the former regime has been annulled and the military and “all security agencies of the bygone regime” have been also dissolved, he said.

Col Abdul Ghani also announced the forced dissolution of the Arab Socialist Baath Party, ostensibly the only party in Syria from 1963 to 2024.

Mr Al Shara has become the country's ruler since HTS and auxiliary forces supported by Turkey swept from their bases in the north and overran several Syrian cities before approaching Damascus, forcing Mr Al Assad to flee to Moscow.

He told the meeting that the priorities should be "filling the vacuum" left by the collapse of the former regime, "maintaining civil peace", and work towards "building economic and developmental" underpinnings for the country, according to an Operations Room statement.

Since taking de facto power, Mr Al Shara's quest to "build a state" has been overshadowed by other spillovers of the civil war, which started in 2011 after the Assad regime cracked down on a pro-democracy uprising.

Landmines in Syria have killed more than 80 people since Assad's fall - video

Landmines in Syria have killed more than 80 people since Assad's fall

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Mr Al Shara has sent forces to strengthen HTS's grip on the coastal areas that had provided core support for the Assad regime. According to activists in the area, dozens of people have been executed during the campaign, without trial, on suspicion of having taken part in regime violence.

In north and east Syria, HTS been negotiating the takeover of territory near the Euphrates River from Kurdish militia. Fighting in the area has intensified between the mostly Kurdish, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian National Army, which was created by Turkey eight years ago to counter the SDF's expansion in Syria.