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

Hundreds of Syrians will gather in Damascus on Tuesday for a one-day national dialogue conference, billed by the country's Islamist rulers as a key milestone in the transition to a new political system after decades of Assad rule.

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,