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Converging on Syria’s most iconic mosque and spilling into the capital’s best-known sq., hundreds of Syrians gathered on Friday to mark the beginning of “a brand new period” following the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad.
Chanting, “Maintain your head up excessive, you’re a free Syrian,” crowds flocked to the Umayyad Mosque, one of many largest and oldest on this planet, for the primary Muslim prayers for the reason that spectacular collapse of the ruling regime.
Hundreds extra gathered in cities throughout the nation.
The celebrations had been a deeply symbolic approach to mark the dramatic change of energy in Syria, almost per week after insurgents swept into Damascus – ousting the Assad household who had saved an iron grip on the nation for 5 many years.
Within the capital. the nation’s interim prime minister, Mohammed al-Bashir, delivers the Friday sermon to flag-waving crowds, with a message of unity.
“It is a name for all of the loyal individuals of Syria. We’ve to place our fingers in one another’s fingers; we have now to collaborate and are available collectively to construct Syria,” he says, his voice cracking.
“To return this majestic nation to its majestic place among the many nations,” he provides.
Underneath Assad, sermons had been tightly managed and monitored, a reality not misplaced on the group. The symbolism was additional amplified by the truth that within the early days of the revolution that precipitated the civil conflict, protesters would usually collect at Umayyad Sq.. Now, fighters and civilians gathered to hear, many stepping contained in the sweeping mosque for the primary time ever.
Raghab, 22, a pupil, says it’s the first time her household had prayed within the mosque due to the oversight of the regime.
“I don’t keep in mind a world with out conflict. I grew up on this revolution and civil battle,” she provides. “Now I’ve a future. I wish to be an architect so I can rebuild this nation.”
Many had gathered hoping to catch a glimpse of the insurgent commander Ahmed al-Sharaa, previously recognized by his nom de guerre Abu Mohamed al-Golani, who heads up the most important rebel drive, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). He as an alternative seems in a video congratulating the “nice Syrian individuals for the victory of the blessed revolution”.
“I invite them to go to the squares to indicate their happiness with out capturing bullets and scaring individuals,” he says. “After which, after, we are going to work to construct this nation, and as I mentioned at first, we will probably be victorious by the assistance of God.”
HTS, which was as soon as aligned with al-Qaeda however has spent years distancing itself from its jihadi roots, has been working to determine safety and begin a political transition after main the cost on the capital early on Sunday. They’ve additionally been attempting to reassure a fractured society, shocked by Assad’s fall and anxious over extremists among the many insurgent ranks.
Their fighters are actually on the streets, generally directing visitors and manning all the safety and army buildings – now ransacked and strewn with defaced photos of the ousted autocrat.
At Damascus’s greatest roundabout, Umayyad Sq., the place hundreds had gathered, HTS foot troopers initially from Damascus sit on chairs exterior the as soon as feared army judiciary constructing, the place arbitrary sentences, together with executions, had been handed down.
They just lately returned to their households for the primary time in additional than a decade after combating throughout the nation since 2012. Pointedly, they relaxation their toes on the defaced picture of Assad that they’d torn down from the billboard behind them.
“I used to be simply 15 after I left Damascus. I noticed my mom for the primary time two days in the past. It was indescribable. She didn’t recognise me,” says Abu Hussein, who spent a yr in a regime jail within the southern city of Deraa in 2011, the place he mentioned they subjected him to electrical shocks.
“I can’t consider I’m sitting right here in entrance of the army judicial constructing, on a damaged image of Assad, listening to the chants of a free Syria. It’s like a dream,” added his pal Abu Osman al-Shami, 30.
One of many main issues for the longer term is the extent of harm. Even 5 years in the past, consultants estimated that the price of rebuilding Syria might soar to as excessive as $400bn (£313bn) – dwarfing the annual authorities funds earlier than the regime collapsed.
Amongst these frightened about this daunting problem is Raed Salah, head of Syria’s civil defence, the White Helmets, whose volunteers have for years been the primary responders to regime strikes. Becoming a member of the crowds at Umayyad Sq. he tells The Impartial the White Helmets have saved greater than 129,000 individuals. Because the overthrow of Assad, they’ve been uncovering abuses within the now opened regime jails and detention centres, together with looking out the infamous Sednaya jail for remaining inmates.
Trying exhausted, Salah says his emotions are “sophisticated.”
“It’s happiness and heavy duty. We had been shocked by the extent of destruction to the infrastructure. We had been shocked by the shortage of companies.”
He provides that whereas pulling individuals out from beneath the rubble had stopped, rebuilding Syria was a extra daunting process, saying: “We’ve entered a brand new stage of labor. Rescuing individuals’s lives gained’t cease. We’ve to maintain going and assist individuals rebuild their lives.”
Friday’s celebrations got here as US secretary of state Antony Blinken met with allies within the area, trying to form the transition and calling for an “inclusive and non-sectarian” interim authorities.
After talks in Jordan and Turkey – which backs a few of the rebel factions – Mr Blinken arrived in Iraq on a beforehand unannounced cease. To this point, US officers haven’t held direct conferences with Syria’s new rulers. Profitable worldwide recognition for the brand new authorities in Syria stays a serious purpose.
There are additionally issues in regards to the deeply fractured society. Preventing nonetheless rages between Turkish-backed rebel factions, uneasily allied with HTS, and the Kurdish-led forces within the northeast, that are backed by US troops.
Since Assad’s fall, Israel has bombed websites throughout Syria, saying it’s attempting to forestall weapons from falling into extremist fingers. It has additionally seized a swathe of southern Syria alongside the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, calling it a buffer zone.
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