The rebel chief who led the overthrow of the longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad has been declared the head of government for a transitional period.

The Media Line's intrepid correspondents are in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan providing first-person reporting. After 54 years of Assad family rule, Syria enters a new era with Ahmed al-Sharaa as transitional president.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has been named president for the "transitional period", state media report, seven weeks after he led the rebel offensive that overthrew Bashar al-Assad. Rebel military commander Hassan Abdul Ghani also announced the cancellation of Syria's 2012 constitution and the dissolution of the former regime's parliament,