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, saying Syria's "strength lies in its unity".

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.

The long-awaited conference was billed as a "rare historical opportunity" to rebuild the country after 14 years of civil war.