\n<\/p>\n
The rebel coalition that seized control of Syria last month appointed its leader, Ahmed al-Shara, as president of the country to preside over a transitional period, Syrian state media reported on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for the coalition, Col. Hassan Abdel Ghani, also declared that the Constitution had been nullified and the legislature and army formed under the country\u2019s deposed dictator, Bashar al-Assad, were dissolved, according to Syria\u2019s state news agency, SANA.<\/p>\n
The declarations amounted to the country\u2019s first official steps toward establishing a new government after the rebel coalition, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, swept into the capital, Damascus, last month in a lightning offensive<\/a> that toppled Mr. al-Assa<\/a>d. <\/em>Mr. al-Shara, who led that coalition, has since been serving as the country\u2019s de facto leader.<\/p>\n As the president of the transitional government, Mr. al-Shara will be at the helm of a once unimaginable period<\/a> of transition in Syria, which had been ruled by the iron fist of the Assad family for more than 50 years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n