Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Chared, said today that thousands of people have enlisted in the "new Syrian army" since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime.
"I did not impose conscription in Syria. Instead, I opted for voluntary conscription and today thousands of people are joining the new Syrian Army," the acting president told Britain's Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart's podcast 'The Rest is Politics'.
Journalist Alastair Campbell was a spokesman for former British Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair, and academic and diplomat Rory Stewart joined Conservative Theresa May's government.
Syria's new government has announced the dismantling of Al-Assad's Army and all armed rebel groups, including the radical Islamist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Al-Chareh.
According to experts consulted by Agence France Presse, in the first years of the war triggered in 2011 by the repression of anti-government demonstrations, casualties, desertions and refusals to recruit reduced the number of troops by around half, from an initial strength of around 300,000.
Al-Assad's government had been supported by Russia and Iran, as well as Lebanon's Hezbollah (Party of God) and other pro-Iranian groups, before the military collapsed in the face of advancing HTS-led rebels.
According to the Syrian interim president, "a large number of young people" fled the Al-Assad regime to escape mandatory military conscription.
"Many former officers have defected and are gradually joining the new Defense Ministry," he added.
The new authorities in Damascus have announced the integration of armed groups into the future national army.
On the ground, Turkish-backed factions continue to fight the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration in the northeast of the country.
Al-Chareh again called for the lifting of sanctions against Syria, which he said were imposed under the ousted Al-Assad government.
"Now that we have dismantled the regime and the prisons, these sanctions must be lifted as they are no longer justified," he said.
To address what he called "major security challenges," Al-Chareh advocated economic development.
"That's what we're focusing on right now. Without economic growth, there can be no stability, and without stability, we risk creating an environment conducive to chaos and insecurity," he added.
