Syria announces March 1 transition to new government, says minister

Syria will have a new government next month, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said on Wednesday, with interim authorities having ruled the country after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.

"The government that will be launched March 1 will represent the Syrian people as much as possible and take its diversity into account," Shaibani said on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit in the United Arab Emirates.

The Islamist-led rebels that seized power installed an interim government, led by Mohammad al-Bashir, to guide the multi-ethnic, multi-confessional country until March 1.

Last month, Ahmed al-Sharaa, leader of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (HTS) that led the rebel offensive that overthrew Assad, was appointed interim president.

He was tasked with forming a transitional legislature with the Assad-era parliament dissolved, along with the Baath party which ruled Syria for decades.

HTS and other factions have themselves been dissolved, with their fighters to be integrated into a future national force.

In an interview earlier this month, Sharaa said that organising elections could take up to five years.

The new authorities have pledged to hold a national dialogue conference involving all Syrians but have yet to set a date.

AFP