Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has been named president for the "transitional period", state media report, seven weeks after he led the rebel offensive that overthrew Bashar al-Assad. Rebel military commander Hassan Abdul Ghani also announced the cancellation of Syria's 2012 constitution and the dissolution of the former regime's parliament,

The Syrian factions that toppled President Bashar Assad last month have named an Islamist former rebel leader as the country‘s interim president in a push to project a united front as they face the monumental task of rebuilding Syria after nearly 14 years of civil war.

Sharaa was already de facto head of Syria's government ever since a coalition of rebel fighters swept through most of Syria and ousted Assad's regime.

Former rebels now controlling Syria name an interim president and throw out the constitution adopted under Assad, saying a new one will be drafted soon.

Sharaa, who took the helm after longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad’s ouster last month, was appointed interim president and tasked with forming a transitional legislature, state media reported. Sharaa was appointed “as the country’s president in the transitional phase”,

Syria’s ruler Ahmad Al Shara has demanded that Russia hand over former president Bashar Al Assad and an estimated $2 billion dollars in liquid assets held by the Assad family in Russian banks, during a meeting in Damascus,