CAIRO: Holding elections in Syria could take up to four years, Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said in remarks broadcast on Sunday, the first time he has commented on a possible electoral timetable since Bashar al-Assad was ousted this month.

Drafting a new constitution could take up to three years, Sharaa said in written excerpts from the interview with the Saudi state-owned broadcaster Al Arabiya, due to be transmitted later on Sunday. He also said it would take about a year for Syrians to see drastic changes.

The comment from Sharaa, who leads the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that ousted Assad on Dec 8, comes as the new government in Damascus has been seeking to reassure its neighbours that it has moved away from its roots in militancy.

Sharaa said HTS, formerly known as the Nusra Front, would be dissolved in a national dialogue conference.

Nearly 300 arrested in crackdown on Assad loyalists, says monitor

The group was once affiliated with Islamic State and al-Qaeda but has since renounced both and sought to reposition itself as a force for moderation. It has repeatedly vowed to protect minority groups, who fear the new rulers could seek to impose a government that could incite sectarian strife.

In the interview, Sharaa said Syria shared strategic interests with Russia, reiterating conciliatory signals his government has made previously.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier said the status of Russia’s military bases would be the subject of negotiations with the new leadership in Damascus. “It is a question not only of maintaining our bases or strongholds, but also of the conditions of their operation, maintenance and provision, and interaction with the local side,” he said in an interview with Russian news agency RIA published on Sunday.

Also, Sharaa said local Kurdish-led forces which Turkiye opposes would be integrated into the national army. “Weapons must be in the hands of the state alone. Whoever is armed and qualified to join the defence ministry, we will welcome them,” he said, adding that based on these criteria, “we will open a negotiations dialogue with the SDF, to perhaps find an appropriate solution,” referring to the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria’s north and northeast.

Sharaa also said he hopes the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump will lift sanctions imposed on Syria.

Crackdown on Assad’s loyalists

Syria’s new authorities have arrested nearly 300 people, including informants, pro-regime fighters and former soldiers, in a crackdown on loyalists to ousted president Bashar al-Assad, a monitor said on Sunday.

Since rebels led by the HTS group toppled Assad three weeks ago, ending more than five decades of family rule, the new authorities in Syria have intensified efforts to consolidate control.

The security forces of the new administration launched a large-scale operation on Thursday against Assad’s loyalists.

“In less than a week, nearly 300 people have been detained in Damascus and its suburbs, as well as in Homs, Hama, Tartus, Latakia and even Deir Ezzor,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Rami Abdel Rahman said, “The campaign is ongoing, but no prominent figures have been arrested” except for Gen Mohammed Kanjo Hassan, the former head of military justice.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2024