Syria’s new leader says elections could take 4 years, hopes Trump will lift sanctions
In an interview with Saudi media, Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed a path to elections and the importance of ties with Russia and Iran, key allies of the Assad regime
Syria’s leader Ahmed al-Sharaa told Al Arabiya on Sunday that elections could take four years, noting the importance of ties with Iran and Russia and calling for the United States to lift sanctions.
“The election process could take four years,” Sharaa told the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television, three weeks after his Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied rebels ousted long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad.
“We need to rewrite the constitution” which could take “two or three years”, he added.
In the wide-ranging interview, he expressed hope that the incoming administration of US president-elect Donald Trump would lift sanctions imposed on his now war-torn and impoverished country under Assad.
“The sanctions on Syria were issued based on the crimes that the regime committed,” Sharaa said, adding that since Assad was gone, “these sanctions should be removed automatically”.
Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by many governments, including the United States.
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De facto leader of Syria’s new administration takes conciliatory tone in wide-ranging interview
