DAMASCUS: Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Monday organising elections could take up to five years, the week after he was appointed interim president and less than two months after ousting Bashar al-Assad.

`My estimate is that the period of time will be approximately between four and five years until the elections, Sharaa said in a pre-recorded interview broadcast on a private Syrian television channel, adding that the infrastructure for the vote `needs to be re-established, and this takes time`.

In late December, he told Al Arabiya TV the election process could take four years. The infrastructure for the vote `needs to be re-established, and this takes time`, Sharaa added on Monday.-AFP