Syria’s new rulers have kicked off a long-awaited national dialogue conference as an “exceptional and rare historical opportunity” to rebuild the country after nearly 14 years of cvil war and the fall of former President Bashar Assad.

Syria’s de facto leader reiterated his pledge to deliver a democratic political transition as talks on the country’s future opened. Ahmed al-Sharaa on Tuesday urged his countrymen to unite and pledged to establish a transitional justice body,

Nearly three months after Bashar al-Assad fled, much of Syria is suspended between relief at the dictatorship’s demise and anxiety over what comes next.