Syrian leader signs temporary constitution putting country under Islamist rule

The country’s interim president Ahmad Al-Sharaa, centre, signed the document in Damascus (Omar Albam/AP)

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

The nation’s interim rulers have struggled to exert their authority across much of Syria since the Islamist former insurgent group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, led a lightning insurgency that overthrew longtime president Bashar Assad in December.