Syria’s interim president on Thursday signed a temporary constitution that leaves the country under Islamist rule for five years during a transitional phase.

Religious and ethnic minorities, as well as the US and Europe, are wary about freedom of expression protections

By bnm Gulf bureau Ahmed al-Sharaa has signed a draft constitutional declaration, making him president of Syria for a five-year transitional period, state media reported on March 13. The committee tasked with drafting the constitutional declaration has granted the new Syrian president the authority to declare a state of emergency,