Damascus, Dec 8: Syrians poured into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire on Sunday after a stunning rebel advance reached the capital, putting an end to the Assad family’s 50 years of iron rule but raising questions about the future of the country and the wider region.
Joyful crowds gathered in central squares in Damascus, waving the Syrian revolutionary flag in scenes that recalled the early days of the Arab Spring uprising, before a brutal crackdown and the rise of an insurgency plunged the country into a nearly 14-year civil war.
Others gleefully ransacked the presidential palace and the Assad family residence after President Bashar Assad and other top officials vanished, their whereabouts unknown. Russia, a close ally, said Assad left the country after negotiations with rebel groups and had given instructions to transfer power peacefully.
Abu Mohammed al-Golani, a former al-Qaida commander who cut ties with the group years ago and says he embraces pluralism and religious tolerance, leads the biggest rebel faction and is poised to chart the country’s future direction.
The end of Assad’s rule deals a major blow to Iran and its allies, already weakened by over a year of conflict with Israel. Iran, which had strongly backed Assad throughout the civil war, said Syrians should decide their country’s future “without destructive, coercive, foreign intervention.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile said Israeli troops had seized a buffer zone in the Golan Heights dating back to 1974, after Syrian troops abandoned their positions in the latest unrest.
The rebels now face the daunting task of healing bitter divides in a country ravaged by war and still split among different armed factions. Turkey-backed opposition fighters are battling US-allied Kurdish forces in the north, and the Islamic State group is still active in some remote areas.
Syrian state television aired a video statement early Sunday by a group of rebels saying that Assad had been overthrown and all prisoners had been set free. They called on people to preserve the institutions of “the free Syrian state.” The rebels later announced a curfew in Damascus from 4 pm to 5 am.
The rebels said they freed people held at the notorious Saydnaya prison, where rights groups say thousands were tortured and killed. A video circulating online purported to show rebels breaking open cell doors and freeing dozens of female prisoners, many of whom appeared shocked and confused. At least one small child could be seen among them.
Rebel commander Anas Salkhadi, who appeared on State TV later in the day, sought to reassure Syria’s religious 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.
Calls for an orderly transition
The rebel advances since November 27 were the largest in recent years, and saw the cities of Aleppo, Hama and Homs fall in a matter of days as the Syrian army melted away. Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, which provided crucial support to Assad throughout the uprising, abandoned him in the final days as they reeled from other conflicts.
The rebels are led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, which has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organisation by the United States and the United Nations.
Its leader, al-Golani, has sought to recast the group as a moderate and tolerant force. HTS set up a “salvation government” in 2017 to administer a large region in northwestern Syria under its control.
“Golani has made history and sparked hope among millions of Syrians,” said Dareen Khalifa, a senior adviser with the International Crisis Group and an expert on Syrian groups. “But he and the rebels now face a formidable challenge ahead. One can only hope they rise to the occasion.”
The UN’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, called Saturday for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.”
The Gulf nation of Qatar, a key regional mediator, hosted an emergency meeting of foreign ministers and top officials from eight countries with interests in Syria late Saturday. The participants included Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Turkey.
Majed al-Ansari, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, told reporters that they agreed on the need “to engage all parties on the ground,” including the HTS, and that the main concern is “stability and safe transition.”
Netanyahu said the 1974 agreement separating Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights had “collapsed,” with Syrian soldiers abandoning their positions, and that Israel had seized the buffer zone for its own protection.
The military said the deployment was meant to provide security for residents of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Mideast war and the international community, except for the United States, views it as occupied. (AP)
