CAIRO (Reuters) – Holding elections in Syria might take as much as 4 years, Syria’s de facto chief Ahmed al-Sharaa mentioned in an interview with Al Arabiya on Sunday, the primary time he has commented on a doable timetable for elections since Bashar al-Assad was ousted this month.
Drafting a brand new structure might take as much as three years, Sharaa mentioned in excerpts from the interview with the Saudi state-owned broadcaster. He additionally mentioned it could take a couple of 12 months for Syrians to see drastic adjustments.
Sharaa leads the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that ousted Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8, ending a long time of Assad household rule and a 13-year civil battle. He mentioned HTS shall be dissolved in a nationwide dialogue convention.
On overseas ties, Sharaa mentioned Syria has strategic pursuits with Russia. Russia has army bases in Syria, was an in depth Assad ally through the lengthy civil battle and has granted Assad asylum.
Sharaa mentioned earlier this month that Syria’s relations with Russia ought to serve frequent pursuits.
Sharaa additionally mentioned he hopes the administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will raise sanctions imposed on Syria. Senior U.S. diplomats who visited Damascus this month mentioned Sharaa got here throughout as pragmatic and that Washington has determined to take away a $10 million bounty on the HTS chief’s head.
