Syrian leader Sharaa pledges to form inclusive government

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syria's newly appointed president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, said on Thursday he will form an inclusive transitional government representing diverse communities that will build institutions and run the country until it can hold free and fair elections.

Sharaa addressed the nation in his first speech since being appointed president for the transitional period on Wednesday by armed factions that ousted former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a lightning offensive last year.

The armed group that led the offensive, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has since set up an interim government that has welcomed a steady stream of senior Western and Arab diplomatic delegations keen to help stabilize the country after 13 years of civil war.

Sharaa in his speech said he would form a small legislative body to fill the parliamentary void until new elections were held, after the Syrian parliament was dissolved on Wednesday.

He said he would also in the coming days announce the formation of a committee that would prepare to hold a national dialogue conference that would be a platform for Syrians to discuss the future political programme of the nation.

That would be followed by a "constitutional declaration," he said, in an apparent reference to the process of drafting a new Syrian constitution.

Sharaa has previously said the process of drafting a new constitution and holding elections may take up to four years.

(Reporting by Timour Azhari in Damascus, and by Ahmed Tolba and Enas Alashray; Editing by Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis)