Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced the formation of a preparatory committee for a long-awaited national dialogue conference on the country's future on 11 February.
The seven-member committee will prepare for the conference, which the interim leader has said will "produce a statement to serve as the basis for a constitutional declaration".
In its first press conference in Damascus on 13 February, the committee said the national dialogue would address "social, political, economic and governance issues".
The presidency's X account listed the committee members - five men and two women - many of whom have close ties to Sharaa or his Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
The committee consists entirely of Sunni Arab Muslims, except for one Christian member.
The committee's composition has drawn criticism from across the Syrian political spectrum, with hardline Islamists criticising the inclusion of a Christian and "moderates".
The absence of an ethnic Kurdish representative also sparked an angry response from the Kurdish-led authorities, who continue to control large parts of the north-east.
A senior Kurdish official warned they would not recognise the conference's decisions unless the Kurds were fairly represented.
The committee said the US-backed Kurdish-led authority and its military wing had not been invited because they had not surrendered their weapons to the interim central authorities.
The Syrian authorities want the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to integrate into the national army but have rejected a proposal for it to remain as a single bloc within the military.
The presence of several committee members linked to the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) will probably be a further sticking point for the Kurds.
The SNA launched an offensive against the SDF in November, seizing several Kurdish-held enclaves while the rebel campaign on Damascus was underway.
The seven committee members profiled below are charged with laying the groundwork the conference on the direction for post-Assad Syria:
Hind Kabawat
Kabawat (Qabawat, Kabwat) is a Christian who was part of the opposition to former president Bashar al-Assad.
According to her X account, she has worked as a professor and lawyer, focusing on interfaith tolerance and women's empowerment.
She was a member of the High Negotiations Committee for Syria, which took part in failed UN-backed talks in Geneva aimed at reaching a political settlement to the conflict.
Hardline Islamists have fiercely opposed her inclusion on the committee, accusing her - among other things - of supporting gay rights in Syria.
Hassan al-Daghim
Daghim (Dughaim), the spokesperson for the preparatory committee, is a researcher in Islamic affairs from Aleppo, according to his X account.
Manhom, an Arabic-language directory website, reports that he worked as a judge in northern Syria, where he set up a moral guidance department in the Turkey-backed SNA.
Daghim has also served on the board of the Syrian Islamic Council, a body of Syrian Muslim clerics established in 2014 in Turkey, according to the directory.
In a post on X just after the fall of Damascus, the cleric acknowledged past political differences with Sharaa but praised his role in leading the lightning campaign.
Hardline Islamists have questioned Daghim's credentials as an expert on Islamic law, mocking him as a "selfie-loving" cleric and not a serious religious authority.
Maher Alloush
Alloush describes himself as a writer and researcher on his X account. According to Manhom, he has written articles and studies on Syrian affairs, including transitional justice and accountability.
In 2021, he mediated between rival factions within Ahrar al-Sham, an Islamist group that played a key role in the recent rebel offensive that toppled Assad.
Harder line Islamists see him as a moderate and have sought to discredit his research.
Mohammed Mastet
Mastet (Mastat) - a gynaecologist from Idlib - was formerly an official in the HTS-affiliated Salvation Government in northwestern Syria.
Domestic media have reported that he served as a director of primary health care in the Salvation Government and was a member of its Shura Council.
He has also worked in the public relations office of Faylaq al-Sham, a Islamist faction in the pro-Turkey SNA, according to domestic media.
Youssef al-Hajr
Hajr (Hijr, Hajir) is a former HTS politburo chief and a member of the Salvation Government's Shura Council, according to Al Jazeera.
He was reportedly injured in a bomb attack last year that killed controversial HTS official Abu Mariya al-Qahtani, whom he served as a personal bodyguard.
Domestic media have reported that he is from al-Shuhail, a town in Deir al-Zour province known as a historic Salafist Sunni stronghold in Syria.
Mustafa al-Moussa
Moussa served as the head of the Salvation Government's Shura Council from 2020 until the fall of the Assad government.
He is a pharmacist who previously led the Shura Council's health committee and served on Idlib's civil council of notables, according to domestic reports.
Houda Atassi
Atassi, the second woman on the panel, is the regional director of the NGO International Humanitarian Relief.
According to her X profile, she co-founded two advocacy groups promoting democracy, human rights and the rights of displaced Syrians.
Domestic media have reported that she is from Homs and holds Turkish citizenship.
Source: BBC Monitoring in Arabic 1400 GMT 18 Feb 25
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