G7 leaders will attempt Friday to forge a common approach to the new government of Syria, which has pledged to protect the rule of law after years of abuses under ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

Assad fled Syria after a lightning offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and its allies, which brought a sudden end to five decades of repressive rule by his clan.

The collapse of Assad's administration closes an era in which suspected dissidents were jailed or killed, and caps nearly 14 years of war that killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.

It has allowed Syrians to flood to prisons, hospitals and morgues in search of long-disappeared loved ones, hoping for a miracle, or at least closure.

"I turned the world upside down looking," Abu Mohammed told AFP as he searched for news of three missing relatives at the Mezzeh Air Base in Damascus.

"But I didn't find anything at all. We just want a hint of where they were, one percent."

Sunni Muslim HTS is rooted in Syria's branch of Al-Qaeda and designated a terrorist organisation by many Western governments, who now face the challenge of how to approach the country's new transitional leadership.

The group has sought to moderate its rhetoric, and the interim government insists the rights of all Syrians will be protected.

"We respect religious and cultural diversity in Syria," government spokesman Obaida Arnaout told AFP on Thursday.

He said the country's constitution and parliament would be suspended during a three-month transition.

"A judicial and human........

© International Business Times