Leader of rebels who toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad is named country's interim president

[January 30, 2025]  By ABBY SEWELL and OMAR ALBAM

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The Syrian factions that toppled President Bashar Assad last month named an Islamist former rebel leader as the country‘s interim president on Wednesday in a push to project a united front as they face the monumental task of rebuilding Syria after nearly 14 years of civil war.

The former insurgents also threw out Syria’s constitution, adopted under Assad, saying a new charter would be drafted soon.

The appointment of Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaida, as Syria's president “in the transitional phase” came after a meeting of the former insurgent factions in Damascus, the Syrian capital.

The announcement was made by the spokesperson for Syria’s new, de facto government’s military operations sector, Col. Hassan Abdul Ghani, the state-run SANA news agency said. The exact mechanism under which the factions selected al-Sharra as interim president was not clear.

Formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, al-Sharaa is the head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which led the lightning offensive that toppled Assad in early December. The group was once affiliated with al-Qaida but has since denounced its former ties.

In recent years, al-Sharaa has sought to cast himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance and promised to protect the rights of women and religious minorities.

The United States had previously placed a $10 million bounty on al-Sharaa but canceled it last month after a U.S. delegation visited Damascus and met with him. Top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf said after the meeting that al-Sharaa came across as “pragmatic.”

Speaking at Wednesday's meeting, al-Sharaa, who was in military uniform, stressed the “heavy task and a great responsibility” that Syria's new rulers face.

“If the victor is arrogant after his victory and forgets the favor of Allah upon him, it will lead him to tyranny,” he said, according to a video released hours later.

Among the priorities for rebuilding Syria, he said, will be “filling the power vacuum legitimately and legally” and “maintaining civil peace by seeking transitional justice and preventing revenge attacks" in the wake of Assad's disastrous reign.

Syrians took to the streets in Damascus and elsewhere to celebrate the announcement, honking car horns and in some cases firing in the air. Many expressed support for al-Sharaa.

“This person is someone who is intelligent and has a good understanding and he was the leader of the battle that freed Syria,” said Abdallah al-Sweid, who was among those celebrating at Umayyad Square in Damascus. “He is someone who deserves to be president.”

Others — even those who had rejoiced at Assad’s ouster — appeared critical of the way the appointment was made and the lack of clarity on next steps.

“The problem is not in the decisions. The problem is in the timing, the previous promises and the confusion,” said Mohammad Salim Alkhateb, an official with the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces — a group formed by members of the opposition to Assad in exile.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, walks in the presidential palace ahead of his meeting with Walid Ellafi, Libyan minister of state for communication and political affairs, in Damascus, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy, File)

Qatar was the first to react to al-Sharaa's appointment, which had been expected, saying it welcomed decisions aimed at “enhancing consensus and unity among all Syrian parties.” The statement added that this should help pave the way for a “peaceful transfer of power through a comprehensive political process.”

Western nations, although they have moved to restore ties with Damascus after Assad was overthrown, are still somewhat circumspect about Syria’s new Islamist rulers.

Abdul Ghani, the spokesman, also announced Wednesday that Syria's constitution — adopted in 2012, under Assad's rule — was annulled. He said al-Sharaa would be authorized to form a temporary legislative council until a new constitution is drafted.

All the armed factions in the country would be disbanded, Abdul Ghani said, and would be absorbed into state institutions.

Since Assad’s fall, HTS has become the de facto ruling party and has set up an interim government largely composed of officials from the local government it previously ran in rebel-held Idlib province.

The interim authorities have promised they would launch an inclusive process to set up a new government and constitution, including convening a national dialogue conference and invite Syria's different communities, though no date has been set.

As the former Syrian army collapsed with Assad’s downfall, al-Sharaa has called for creation of a new unified national army and security forces, but questions have loomed over how the interim administration can bring together a patchwork of former rebel groups, each with their own leaders and ideology.

Even knottier is the question of the U.S.-backed Kurdish groups that have carved out an autonomous enclave early in Syria’s civil war, never fully siding with the Assad government or the rebels seeking to topple him. Since Assad’s fall, there has been an escalation in clashes between the Kurdish forces and Turkish-backed armed groups allied with HTS in northern Syria.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces were not present at Wednesday's meeting of the country’s armed factions Wednesday and there was no immediate comment from the group.

At the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos this month, Asaad al-Shibani, Syria’s new foreign minister and HTS official, said the country needs the international community's help as it begins rebuilding after the brutal civil war.

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Sewell reported from Beirut.

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