Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
New elections in Syria could take four years, rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said in a radio interview.
It is the first time he has given a timetable for possible elections in Syria since his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group led the insurgency that ousted former President Bashar al-Assad.
In an interview with the Saudi Al Arabiya government reporter on Sunday, he said that drafting new laws would take three years.
He said it may be a year before the Syrian people begin to see significant changes and changes in government services after the defeat of the Assad regime.
Sharaa said that Syria needs to reform its constitution and must conduct a census in order to conduct legitimate elections.
Sharaa – formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani – has led the country’s new leadership after President Assad fell earlier this month.
Since then, questions have been raised about how HTS will rule the multi-ethnic world.
HTS began as a jihadist group – promoting violence to achieve its goal of establishing a state governed by Islamic (Sharia) law – but has distanced itself in recent years.
Sharaa said the group, which was previously affiliated with the Islamic State and al-Qaeda and is considered a terrorist group by the UN and many countries, will be “eliminated” at the upcoming international conference but did not give further details.
The summit could be the first test of whether Syria’s new leadership can achieve its promised goal of reunifying the country after thirteen years of civil war.
Responding to criticism of his transitional government, he said that the way he was elected was important and did not mean excluding anyone.
Syria is home to many ethnicities and religions, including Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Christians, Druze, Alawite Shia and Sunni Arabs, the latter making up the majority of Muslims.
His group has pledged to protect the rights and freedoms of the country’s minorities.
Meanwhile, around 300 people have been arrested in the past week in the fight against Assad loyalists, according to a UK military monitor.
Those arrested include informants, government activists and former soldiers, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
He told AFP reporters that the arrests were being made “in cooperation with the local community”.
The Syrian news agency Sana also reported the arrests this week against “Assad’s forces” where weapons and ammunition were seized.
