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.

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,

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,

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.

The new leadership of the country said the rebel coalition leader, Ahmed al-Shara, would serve as president during a transitional period.

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.

There is now a major shift to a competitive free-market economy, Syria’s new economy minister said. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Foreign dignitaries and officials are beginning to travel to Syria to meet with Ahmed al-Sharaa, the country's newly appointed transitional president. Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani became the first head of state to visit Damascus, Syria's capital, and meet with Sharaa.