Syrians poured into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire on Sunday after a surprising insurgent advance reached the capital, placing an finish to 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 central 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 the Assad household residence after President Bashar Assad and different prime officers vanished, their whereabouts unknown. Russia, an in depth 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 most important insurgent faction and is poised to chart the nation’s future route.
The top of Assad’s rule offers a significant blow to Iran and its allies, already weakened by over a 12 months of battle with Israel. Iran, which had strongly backed Assad all through the civil battle, mentioned Syrians ought to determine their nation’s future “with out damaging, coercive, overseas intervention.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the meantime mentioned Israeli troops had seized a buffer zone within the Golan Heights courting again to 1974, after Syrian troops deserted their positions within the newest unrest.
The rebels now face the daunting process of therapeutic bitter divides in a rustic ravaged by battle and nonetheless cut up amongst completely different armed factions. Turkey-backed opposition fighters are battling U.S.-allied Kurdish forces within the north, and the Islamic State group remains to be lively in some distant areas.
Syrian state tv aired a video assertion early Sunday by a bunch of rebels saying that Assad had been overthrown and all prisoners had been let loose. They known as on individuals 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 individuals held on the infamous Saydnaya jail, the place rights teams say hundreds had been tortured and killed. A video circulating on-line purported to point out rebels breaking open cell doorways and liberating dozens of feminine prisoners, lots of whom appeared shocked and confused. Not less than one small youngster could possibly be seen amongst them.
Insurgent commander Anas Salkhadi, who appeared on State TV later within the day, sought to reassure Syria’s non secular and ethnic minorities, saying: “Syria is for everybody, no exceptions. Syria is for Druze, Sunnis, Alawites, and all sects.”
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“We is not going to cope with individuals the way in which the Assad household did,” he added.
Celebrations throughout the capital
Residents of Damascus gathered to wish mosques and to have fun within the squares, chanting “God is nice.” Folks additionally chanted anti-Assad slogans and honked automobile horns. Teen boys picked up weapons that had apparently been discarded by safety forces and fired them within the air.
Revelers stuffed Umayyad Sq. within the metropolis heart, the place the Protection Ministry is positioned. Males fired celebratory gunshots into the air and a few waved the three-starred Syrian flag that predates the Assad authorities and was adopted by the revolutionaries.
“I can’t categorical my happiness,” mentioned Bassam Masr. “However this happiness is not going to be accomplished till I can see my son out of jail and know the place is he. I’ve been trying to find him for 2 hours. He has been detained for 13 years.”
Troopers and law enforcement officials left their posts and fled, and looters broke into the Protection Ministry. Movies from Damascus confirmed households wandering into the presidential palace, with some rising carrying stacks of plates and different home items.
Syria’s al-Watan newspaper, which was traditionally pro-government, wrote: “We face a brand new web page for Syria. We thank God for not shedding extra blood. We consider and belief that Syria will likely be for all Syrians.”
The newspaper added that media employees shouldn’t be blamed for publishing authorities statements up to now, saying: “We solely carried out the directions and revealed the information they despatched us.”
A press release from the Alawite sect — to which Assad belongs and which has shaped the core of his base — known as on younger Syrians to be “calm, rational and prudent and to not be dragged into what tears aside the unity of our nation.”
The rebels primarily come from the Sunni Muslim majority in Syria, which additionally has sizable Druze, Christian and Kurdish communities.
Assad’s whereabouts are unknown
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali mentioned in a video assertion that the federal government was able to “lengthen its hand” to the opposition and switch its features over to a transitional authorities. A video shared on Syrian opposition media confirmed a bunch of armed males escorting him out of his workplace and to the 4 Seasons resort on Sunday.
Rami Abdurrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights informed The Related Press that Assad took a flight 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 in recent times, declined to touch upon his whereabouts when requested by reporters at a convention in Bahrain.
Anwar Gargash mentioned Assad’s vacation spot at this level is a “footnote in historical past,” evaluating it to the lengthy exile of German Kaiser Wilhelm II after World Warfare I.
Assad has been accused of battle crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity in the course of the battle, together with a 2013 chemical weapons assault on the outskirts of the capital.
There was no quick remark from Iran, which had been Assad’s staunchest supporter. The Iranian Embassy in Damascus was ransacked after apparently having been deserted.
Requires an orderly transition
The insurgent advances since Nov. 27 had been the most important in recent times, and noticed the cities of Aleppo, Hama and Homs fall in a matter of days because the Syrian military melted away. Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, which offered essential assist to Assad all through the rebellion, deserted him within the ultimate days as they reeled from different conflicts.
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 america and the United Nations.
Its chief, al-Golani, has sought to recast the group as a reasonable and tolerant drive. HTS arrange a “salvation authorities” in 2017 to manage a big area in northwestern Syria underneath its management.
“Golani has made historical past and sparked hope amongst hundreds of thousands of Syrians,” mentioned Dareen Khalifa, a senior adviser with the Worldwide Disaster Group and an skilled on Syrian teams. “However he and the rebels now face a formidable problem forward. One can solely hope they rise to the event.”
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 overseas ministers and prime officers from eight international locations with pursuits in Syria late Saturday. The members included Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Turkey.
Majed al-Ansari, Qatar’s Overseas Ministry spokesman, informed reporters that they agreed on the necessity “to interact all events on the bottom,” together with the HTS, and that the primary concern is “stability and protected transition.”
Netanyahu mentioned the 1974 settlement separating Israeli and Syrian forces within the Golan Heights had “collapsed,” with Syrian troopers abandoning their positions, and that Israel had seized the buffer zone for its personal safety.
The army mentioned the deployment was meant to offer safety for residents of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. Israel captured the territory within the 1967 Mideast battle and the worldwide group, aside from america, views it as occupied.
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