Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi on Friday congratulated Ahmed al-Sharaa on assuming Syria's interim presidency, two days after his appointment.

"I wish him success in achieving the aspirations of the Syrian people for more progress and prosperity," el-Sissi said on social media, less than two months after Sharaa led the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar Assad.

Sharaa was named interim president on Wednesday for an unspecified transitional period. The following day, he welcomed Qatar’s emir, the first head of state to visit since Assad’s fall. According to Syria’s new authorities, Sharaa has been tasked with forming a transitional legislature. Officials announced the dissolution of all armed groups involved in Assad’s overthrow, as well as the former government’s army.

Since Islamist-led rebels seized power in December, Cairo has kept the new authorities in Syria at arm’s length. El-Sissi, who took power in 2014 after ousting the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, has positioned his administration in opposition to Islamist forces. Egypt backed Assad until the end, even as Sharaa’s Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham closed in on Damascus.

Cairo has since engaged cautiously with Syria, sending humanitarian aid and establishing diplomatic links while repeatedly calling for an inclusive political transition. A transitional government had previously been appointed to lead the multi-ethnic, multi-confessional country until March 1.