A hmed al-Sharaa, Syria’s president, spoke to The Economist on January 31st in Damascus. The conversation has been translated and lightly edited for clarity. You can read our analysis of the interview here.

French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa, as he invited him to visit France in the coming weeks, the

Syria's Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Monday it would take between four and five years to hold presidential elections, the first time he has laid out a timeline for the vote since he was named transitional president last week.

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.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa was declared president for a transitional phase on Wednesday, tightening his hold on power less than two months after he led a campaign that toppled Bashar al-Assad.

Syria's Interim President Ahmed Al Sharaa visits Turkey for high-level talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The meeting is seen as a significant diplomatic move amid ongoing regional tensions and efforts for cooperation between the two countries.