Syrians are celebrating the fall of Bashar al-Assad from rebel groups amid calls for an orderly transition.

Latest:

• Rebels appeared on State TV announcing that they had ousted a “tyrant.”
• Syrians stormed the presidential palace, tearing down pictures of the ousted president.
• Syria’s prime minister says he lost contact with Bashar al-Assad late Saturday.
• The UN ambassador talks about moving towards a “united and peaceful Syria.”

Syria’s government fell on Sunday morning, under attack from a rebel group in Damascus that sent crowds into the streets to celebrate the end of 50 years of rule by the Assad family.

Syrian state television broadcast a video statement by a group of men saying that President Bashar al-Assad, the so-called “dictator,” has been overthrown and all “unjustly imprisoned” prisoners have been released.

A man who read the statement said the opposition group, known as Operations Room to Conquer Damascus, called on all rebels and civilians to protect the facilities of the “free Syrian state.”

The statement came hours after the head of the Syrian opposition said that Assad had turned his back on the move to an unknown location, fleeing the insurgents who claimed to have entered Damascus following a dramatic move across the country.

Many residents of the capital were in disbelief at the speed with which Assad lost his grip on the country after nearly 14 years of civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced half of the 23 million people before the war and brought in fewer people. external forces.

Celebrations erupt throughout the capital

As it was dawn in Damascus, crowds gathered to pray in the city’s churches and to celebrate in the squares, singing “God is great.” People also chanted anti-Assad slogans and honked car horns. The little boys picked up weapons that had apparently been thrown away by the guards and shot them in the air.

Bargains fill Umayyad Square in the center of the city, where the Ministry of Defense is located. The men fired ceremonial rifles into the air while others waved the three-star Syrian flag that predates the Assad government and is adopted by rebels.

A few kilometers away, Syrians stormed the presidential palace, tearing down pictures of the ousted president.

Soldiers and policemen left their posts and fled, and looters broke into the Ministry of Defense. Videos from Damascus showed families streaming into the presidential palace, some carrying stacks of plates and other household items.

“I did not sleep last night, I refused to sleep until I heard the news of his fall,” said Mohammed Amer Al-Oulabi, 44, who works in the electricity sector.

“From Idlib to Damascus, it only took them [the opposition forces] few days, thank God. God bless them, the lions are warriors who made us proud.”

The Syrian newspaper al-Watan, which has historically supported the government, wrote: “We are facing a new page for Syria. We thank God for not shedding more blood. We believe and hope that Syria will belong to all Syrians.”

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The newspaper added that media workers should not be blamed for publishing government statements earlier.

“We only made instructions and published the news they sent us,” it said. “It quickly became clear now that it was a lie.”

A statement from the Alawite sect – to which Assad belongs and which has become the core of his base – called on Syrian youth to “be calm, wise and intelligent and not be drawn into what divides the unity of our country.”

Assad’s whereabouts are unknown

The Prime Minister of Syria, Mohammed Ghazi Jalali, in a video statement said that the government is ready to “extend a hand” to the opposition and return its duties to the interim government. A video shared by opposition media in Syria shows a group of armed men escorting him out of his office towards the Four Seasons hotel on Sunday.

Earlier, the prime minister told Al Arabiya news channel that he does not know where Assad and the defense minister are. He said he lost contact with Assad late Saturday.

Rami Abdurrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told The Associated Press that Assad took a flight on Sunday from Damascus.

A United Arab Emirates embassy official, who has sought to repair Assad’s image and has welcomed high-profile exiles in recent years, declined to comment on his whereabouts when asked by reporters at a conference in Bahrain.

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Anwar Gargash said that Assad’s destination at this point is “a footnote in history,” comparing it to the long exile of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany after World War I.

Assad is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war, including a 2013 chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of the capital.

There was no immediate comment from Iran, which has been a staunch supporter of Assad. The Iranian Embassy in Damascus was looted after it was abandoned. AP footage showed broken windows and documents strewn across the driveway.

Opposition forces have not entered Damascus since 2018, when the Syrian army recaptured areas on the outskirts of the capital following a years-long siege.

It requires systematic change

The progress of the rebels since 27 Nov. has been the largest in recent years, and saw the cities of Aleppo, Hama and Homs fall in a matter of days as the Syrian army dissolved. Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, which provided key support to Assad during the uprising, have abandoned him in recent days as they move away from other conflicts.

The rebels are led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which has origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the United Nations.

Its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, wants to rebrand the group, cut ties with al-Qaeda, ditch hard-line officials and vow to embrace diversity and religious tolerance. HTS established a “salvation government” in 2017 to bring a large region of northwestern Syria under its control.

“Golani made history and sparked hope for millions of Syrians,” said Dareen Khalifa, a senior adviser to the International Crisis Group and an expert on Syrian groups.

“But he and the rebels are now facing a big challenge. One can only hope that they will succeed.”

The UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, called Saturday for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure “an orderly political transition.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose country is Assad’s biggest international backer, said he “sympathizes with the Syrian people.”

“The challenges that are yet to be faced are great and we hear those who are concerned and afraid,” said Geir in a statement.

“Yet this is the time to embrace the opportunity for renewal. The resilience of the Syrian people provides the path to a united and peaceful Syria.”

A warning about controlling radicals

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock expressed her understanding of the relief the Syrian people felt after the fall of the Assad government, but warned that “the country must not now fall into the hands of other extremists.”

“Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed in the civil war, millions have fled,” Baerbock said in a statement from his office on Sunday.

“Assad killed, tortured and used poison gas on his own people. He must finally answer for this.”

Baerbock also called on “the parties to the conflict to live up to their responsibility for the entire Syrian people.”

“This includes the full protection of ethnic and religious minorities such as the Kurds, Alawites or Christians and an inclusive political process that creates equality between groups,” said the German foreign minister.

The Gulf state of Qatar, a key regional mediator, held an emergency meeting of foreign ministers and senior officials from eight countries with an interest in Syria late Saturday. Participants include Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Turkey.

Majed bin Mohammed al-Ansari, spokesman for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and adviser to the Prime Minister, told reporters that they agreed on the need to “negotiate with all parties,” including HTS, and that the main concern is “stability and a safe transition.”

Israel’s military said on Sunday it had deployed troops to a demilitarized zone on its northern border with Syria following a rebel attack there.

The army, which said it had also deployed troops “to other areas necessary for security,” said the deployment was meant to provide security for residents of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israel captured the area in the 1967 Mideast war and the international community, except the United States, sees it as occupied.

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