Syria's new rulers held a long-awaited national dialoguSountry after the fall of former President Bashar Assad and nearly 14 years of civil war. About 600 people from across Syria were invited to the gathering in the presidential palace in Damascus,

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,

Although the conference was called to chart the country’s future, the Kurdish-led militia that controls much of Syria’s northeast was not invited.