Rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa made transitional president of Syria

Sharaa, who has been the de-facto leader since December, said Syria’s priorities were ‘filling the power vacuum, preserving civil peace and building state institutions’. Photograph: Mosa’ab Elshamy/AP

The former leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist rebel group which led the military operation to topple the former president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, last month, has been appointed president of Syria for a “transitional period”.

The appointment of Ahmed al-Sharaa, who has been acting as the de-facto leader of the country since early December, came after a meeting of rebel faction leaders on Wednesday and was announced by a military spokesperson.