By Abdulrahman Shaheen and Abby Sewell | Related Press
DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrians poured into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire on Sunday after a shocking insurgent advance reached the capital, ending the Assad household’s 50 years of iron rule however elevating questions on the way forward for the nation and the broader area.
Joyful crowds gathered in squares in Damascus, waving the Syrian revolutionary flag in scenes that recalled the early days of the Arab Spring rebellion, earlier than a brutal crackdown and the rise of an insurgency plunged the nation into an almost 14-year civil battle.
Others gleefully ransacked the presidential palace and residence after President Bashar Assad and different high officers vanished, their whereabouts unknown. Russia, a detailed ally, mentioned Assad left the nation after negotiations with insurgent teams and had given directions to switch energy peacefully.
Abu Mohammed al-Golani, a former al-Qaida commander who reduce ties with the group years in the past and says he embraces pluralism and spiritual tolerance, leads the largest insurgent faction and is poised to chart the nation’s future.
In his first public look since fighters entered the Damascus suburbs Saturday, al-Golani visited the sprawling Umayyad Mosque and known as Assad’s fall “a victory to the Islamic nation.” Calling himself by his given title, Ahmad al-Sharaa, and never his nom de guerre, he advised a whole bunch of folks that Assad had made Syria “a farm for Iran’s greed.”
The rebels face the daunting job of therapeutic bitter divisions in a rustic ravaged by battle and nonetheless break up amongst armed factions. Turkey-backed opposition fighters are battling U.S.-allied Kurdish forces within the north, and the Islamic State group remains to be energetic in some distant areas.
Syrian state tv broadcast a insurgent assertion early Sunday saying Assad had been overthrown and all prisoners had been launched. They known as on folks to protect the establishments of “the free Syrian state.” The rebels later introduced a curfew in Damascus from 4 p.m. to five a.m.
The rebels mentioned they freed folks held on the infamous Saydnaya jail, the place rights teams say hundreds have been tortured and killed. A video circulating on-line purported to indicate rebels breaking open cell doorways and liberating dozens of feminine prisoners, a lot of whom appeared shocked. At the very least one small baby was seen amongst them.
“This happiness will not be completed until I can see my son out of prison and know where is he,” mentioned one relative, Bassam Masr. “I have been searching for him for two hours. He has been detained for 13 years.”
Insurgent commander Anas Salkhadi later appeared on state TV and sought to reassure Syria’s non secular and ethnic minorities, saying: “Syria is for everyone, no exceptions. Syria is for Druze, Sunnis, Alawites, and all sects.”
“We will not deal with people the way the Assad family did,” he added.
Celebrations within the capital
Damascus residents prayed in mosques and celebrated in squares, calling, “God is great.” Individuals chanted anti-Assad slogans and honked automotive horns. Teenage boys picked up weapons apparently discarded by safety forces and fired into the air.
Revelers stuffed Umayyad Sq., the place the Protection Ministry is situated. Some waved the three-starred Syrian flag that predates the Assad authorities and was adopted by the revolutionaries. Elsewhere, many components of the capital have been empty and retailers have been closed.
Troopers and police left their posts and fled, and looters broke into the Protection Ministry. Movies confirmed households wandering the presidential palace, some carrying stacks of plates and different home goods.
“It’s like a dream. I need someone to wake me up,” mentioned opposition fighter Abu Laith, including the rebels have been welcomed in Damascus with “love.”
On the Justice Ministry, the place rebels stood guard, Choose Khitam Haddad mentioned they have been defending paperwork from the chaos. Exterior, some residents sought details about kin who disappeared below Assad.
The rebels “have felt the pain of the people,” mentioned one lady, giving solely her first title, Heba. She nervous about doable revenge killings by the rebels, a lot of whom seemed to be underage.
An announcement from the Alawite sect that has shaped the core of Assad’s base known as on younger Syrians to be “calm, rational and prudent and not to be dragged into what tears apart the unity of our country.”
The rebels primarily come from the Sunni Muslim majority in Syria, which additionally has sizable Druze, Christian and Kurdish communities. In Qamishli within the northeast, a Kurdish man slapped a statue of the late chief Hafez Assad along with his shoe.
Assad’s whereabouts are unknown
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali mentioned the federal government was able to “extend its hand” to the opposition and switch its capabilities over to a transitional authorities. A video shared on Syrian opposition media confirmed armed males escorting him from his workplace and to the 4 Seasons lodge on Sunday.
Rami Abdurrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights advised The Related Press that Assad, 59, took a flight early Sunday from Damascus.
A senior diplomat from the United Arab Emirates, which had sought to rehabilitate Assad’s picture and has welcomed high-profile exiles lately, declined to touch upon his whereabouts.
Anwar Gargash mentioned Assad’s vacation spot at this level is a “footnote in history,” evaluating it to the lengthy exile of German Kaiser Wilhelm II after World Struggle I.
Requires an orderly transition
The insurgent advances since Nov. 27 have been the most important lately, and noticed the cities of Aleppo, Hama and Homs fall inside days because the Syrian military melted away. Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, which supplied essential help to Assad all through the rebellion, deserted him as they reeled from different conflicts.
The top of Assad’s rule was a serious blow to Iran and its allies, already weakened by battle with Israel. Iran, which had strongly backed him all through the civil battle, mentioned Syrians ought to determine their future “without destructive, coercive, foreign intervention.” The Iranian Embassy in Damascus was ransacked after apparently having been deserted.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the meantime mentioned Israeli troops had briefly seized a buffer zone within the Golan Heights established in 1974, saying it was to guard Israeli residents after Syrian troops deserted positions. Israel’s navy later warned residents of 5 southern Syria communities to remain dwelling for his or her security, and didn’t reply to questions. Israel captured the Golan within the 1967 Mideast battle and later annexed it. The worldwide group, aside from the USA, views it as occupied.
The rebels are led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, which has its origins in al-Qaida and is taken into account a terrorist group by the USA and the United Nations. Al-Golani, has sought to recast the group as a average and tolerant pressure.
“Golani has made history and sparked hope among millions of Syrians,” mentioned Dareen Khalifa, a senior adviser with the Worldwide Disaster Group. “But he and the rebels now face a formidable challenge ahead.”
The U.N.’s particular envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, known as Saturday for pressing talks in Geneva to make sure an “orderly political transition.”
The Gulf nation of Qatar, a key regional mediator, hosted an emergency assembly of international ministers and high officers from eight international locations with pursuits in Syria late Saturday. They included Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Turkey.
Majed al-Ansari, Qatar’s Overseas Ministry spokesman, mentioned they agreed on the necessity “to engage all parties on the ground,” together with the HTS, and that the principle concern is “stability and safe transition.”
Sewell reported from Beirut. Related Press writers Bassem Mroue, Sarah El Deeb and Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut; Samar Kassaballi, Omar Sanadiki and Ghaith Alsayed in Damascus; Jon Gambrell in Manama, Bahrain; Josef Federman in Doha, Qatar; and Tia Goldenberg in Jerusalem, contributed.
Initially Printed: December 8, 2024 at 10:17 AM PST
