The new leadership of the country said the rebel coalition leader, Ahmed al-Shara, would serve as president during a transitional period.

By bnm Gulf bureau Russian forces have begun withdrawing from Syria, with two cargo vessels, the Sparta II and Sparta, departing from the port of Tartus on January 30, carrying significant military equipment.

Visiting Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani emphasised the "urgent need" to form an inclusive Syrian government during a meeting Thursday with the country's new interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa, the Qatari royal court said.

The new government of Syria has demanded that the aggressor country of russia extradite former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who fled the country in

Russia’s deputy foreign minister and a special envoy arrived in Damascus. Theirs was the first such visit since President Bashar al-Assad fled the country, according to Russian state news.

Books recounting torture in Syrian prisons or texts on radical Islamic theology now sit openly in Damascus bookstores, no longer traded in secret after iron-fisted ruler Bashar al-Assad's ouster."If I had asked about a (certain) book just two months ago,

Ahmad al-Sharaa, Syria's new strongman since December 8, has been appointed as the country's interim president. He has been tasked with forming a "temporary" legislative council, whose mandate will last throughout the "transition period." This phase's duration was not specified.

He had spent the day with the leaders of Syria’s myriad armed factions, trying to persuade them to disband. Over seven weeks after the fall of Damascus, the fate of these groups is still uncertain. His aides claim that all militias will be dissolved and then absorbed into a new national army.

DAMASCUS: Tightening his hold on power less than two months after he led a campaign that toppled Bashar al-Assad, Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has been declared president for

Sharaa was already de facto head of Syria's government ever since a coalition of rebel fighters swept through most of Syria and ousted Assad's regime.

While some Syrians celebrated Ahmed al-Shara as head of state, others questioned how the decision to elevate the rebel leader was made.