Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (Abu Mohammad al-Julani) has been named president for a transitional phase and the country’s constitution has been suspended, the Syrian state news agency, SANA, reported.

Al-Sharaa was also authorised to form a temporary legislative council for the transitional phase which will carry out its task until a new constitution is adopted, SANA reported on Wednesday.

The announcement was made by the spokesperson for Syria’s new, de facto government’s military operations sector, Hassan Abdul Ghani, the state-run SANA news agency said.

Abdel Ghani also announced the dissolution of the armed factions in the country, which he said would be absorbed into state institutions.

After Assad’s removal, Al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group became the de facto ruling party and set up an interim government largely composed of officials from the local government it previously ran in rebel-held Idlib province.