CAIRO (Reuters) – Holding elections in Syria could take four years, Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said in an interview with Al Arabiya on Sunday, the first time he has commented on the timing of elections since Bashar al-Assad was ousted this month.
The creation of a new constitution could take three years, said Sharaa quoted in an interview with the Saudi state broadcaster. He also said that it will take a year for Syrians to see drastic changes.
Sharaa leads the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that ousted Bashar al-Assad on December 8, ending decades of rule by the Assad family and a 13-year civil war. He said that HTS will be disbanded in a national dialogue conference.
In foreign relations, Sharaa said that Syria has strategic goals with Russia. Russia has military bases in Syria, has been close to Assad during the long civil war and has given Assad asylum.
Sharaa said earlier this month that relations between Syria and Russia must achieve common goals.
Sharaa also said that he hopes that the administration of President-elect Donald Trump will cancel the sanctions imposed on Syria. Top American diplomats who visited Damascus this month said that Sharaa appeared to be a reasonable person and that Washington has decided to put a $10 million bounty on the head of the HTS leader.
