Syria's al-Sharaa Says Holding Elections Can Take Up to 4 Years

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa walks in the presidential palace in Damascus, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa walks in the presidential palace in Damascus, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
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Syria's al-Sharaa Says Holding Elections Can Take Up to 4 Years

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa walks in the presidential palace in Damascus, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa walks in the presidential palace in Damascus, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Holding elections in Syria can take up to four years, Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa told Al Arabiya in an interview on Sunday.

Drafting a new constitution could take up to three years, al-Sharaa said in excerpts from the interview with the broadcaster. He also said it would take about a year for Syrians to see drastic changes.

Al-Sharaa also hoped the Trump administration will lift the sanctions on Syria.

The Biden administration said earlier this month that it has decided not to pursue a $10 million reward it had offered for al-Sharaa, whose group, the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led fighters that ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The announcement followed a meeting in Damascus between al-Sharaa and the top US diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, who led the first US diplomatic delegation into Syria since Assad’s ouster on Dec. 8.

HTS remains designated a foreign terrorist organization, and Leaf would not say if sanctions stemming from that designation would be eased.

Al- Sharaa also told Al Arabiya that Syria has strategic interests with Russia. Russia has military bases in Syria, was a close Assad ally during the long civil war and has granted Assad asylum.
Al-Sharaa said earlier this month that Syria's relations with Russia should serve common interests.



White House Urges Hamas to Sign on to New Deal to Ensure Hostage Release

Palestinian boys examine a car targeted in an Israeli army strike that killed several of its occupants in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinian boys examine a car targeted in an Israeli army strike that killed several of its occupants in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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White House Urges Hamas to Sign on to New Deal to Ensure Hostage Release

Palestinian boys examine a car targeted in an Israeli army strike that killed several of its occupants in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinian boys examine a car targeted in an Israeli army strike that killed several of its occupants in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The Biden administration is urging Hamas to sign on to a new ceasefire deal that would ensure the release of hostages, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Friday.

Kirby said the White House welcomed Israel's decision to send another team to Doha to continue negotiations.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have been trying to mediate a deal for a ceasefire and hostage release for a year with no success and are making another push this month before Donald Trump's inauguration.
Ceasefire efforts have continually stumbled on a fundamental disagreement over how to end the conflict. Hamas says it will accept an agreement and release the hostages only if Israel commits to ending the war. Israel says it will agree to stop fighting only once Hamas is destroyed.

On Friday, Hamas said it wanted "a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of occupation forces from the Gaza Strip" and the return of displaced people to their homes in all areas of the enclave.

US President Joe Biden has repeatedly called for a ceasefire agreement. Trump has said that if there is not a deal to release the hostages before his inauguration, "all hell is going to break out.”