Syria's new Islamist leaders are undertaking a radical overhaul of the country's broken economy, including plans to fire a third of all public sector workers and privatising state-run companies dominant during half a century of Assad family rule.

Syria's new Islamist leaders are undertaking a radical overhaul of the country's broken economy, including plans to fire a third of all public sector workers and privatising state-run companies dominant during half a century of Assad family rule.

Since Islamist rebels overthrew the Assad dictatorship in Syria, Egypt, with parallels in its own recent history, has watched warily.

Now, foreign countries are trying to steer Syria’s new de facto leaders toward an inclusive government free of sectarian reprisals and away from extreme forms of Islamism. The head of HTS and the president of Syria’s transitional government,

President Ahmed al-Shara vowed to be inclusive, but the way crucial decisions have been made has left some Syrians wary.

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.

Ahmed al Sharaa was declared the new president of Syria in the transitional government that came into power after the collapse of the Assad regime on December 8. This declaration led to congratulations from several Arab states in the region,

Sharaa, promised Thursday to hold a "national dialogue conference" in his first address to the nation since the fall of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad.Sharaa, who was appointed interim president a day earlier for an unspecified transitional period,

Syria has demanded reparations from Russia in order to "rebuild trust" after a meeting between Damascus' new administration and a Moscow delegation, according to local news sources. Russia and Syria's meeting to discuss future relations comes as Moscow looks to retain its two military bases in the Middle Eastern country.

Syria’s Civil Defense has uncovered over two dozen charred bodies in two basements in rural Damascus, adding to the growing tally of mass graves discovered since the ousting of Bashar Assad.

In a pre-recorded speech, Sharaa vowed to "pursue the criminals who shed Syrian blood and committed massacres and crimes", whether they were in Syria or abroad, and to establish "real transitional justice" after Assad's fall.