The long-awaited conference was billed as a "rare historical opportunity" to rebuild the country after 14 years of civil war.

A long-awaited national dialogue conference intended to help chart Syria’s political future after the fall of former President Bashar Assad is set to begin.

Syria's interim president has told a national dialogue conference that the country has a "historic" opportunity to rebuild after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad. Ahmed al-Sharaa also stressed the need for armed groups to integrate into the military and for the state to have a monopoly on weapons,