Thousands of jubilant Syrians gathered outside a landmark mosque in the capital Damascus to celebrate during the first Friday prayers since the ouster of president Bashar al Assad. More than half a century of brutal rule by the Assad clan came to a sudden end on Sunday, after a lightning rebel offensive swept across the country and took the capital.
Ousted president Assad fled Syria, closing an era in which suspected dissidents were jailed or killed, and capping nearly 14 years of war that killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.
Abu Mohammed al Jolani, head of the Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) which spearheaded the offensive, called on Syrians "to go to the streets to express their joy" on Friday to mark "the victory of the blessed revolution". Interim prime minister Mohammed al Bashir addressed a large congregation at Damascus's landmark Umayyad Mosque. Thousands flocked to the mosque some raising the three-star Syrian independence flag which none dared raise during Assad's iron-fisted rule.
Exhilarated crowds chanted "one, one, one, the Syrian people is one!"
"We are gathering because we're happy Syria has been freed, we're happy to have been liberated from the prison in which we lived," said Nour Thi al Ghina, 38, from Damascus.
"This is the first time we have converged in such big numbers and the first time we witness such an event," she said, beaming with joy.
Omar al Khaled, 23, echoed her comments. "Our morale is very high and we hope that Syria will head towards a better future," he said.
Several hundred people gathered in a festive and relaxed atmosphere in the main square of Syria's second city Aleppo, a scene of fierce fighting during the country's long civil war, correspondents reported.
A huge billboard depicting Assad and his father Hafez was set on fire. "The Assad father and son oppressed us, but we have liberated our country from injustice," a white-bearded policeman at the scene said. Another policeman, Alaa al Imafi, 32, held up a red rose that a little girl gave him.
"I cannot tell you how happy I am," he said.
In the southern city of Sweida, the heartland of Syria's Druze minority where anti-government demonstrations have been held for more than a year, hundreds took to the streets, singing and clapping in jubilation. "Our joy is indescribable," said Haitham Hudeifa, 54. "Every province is celebrating this great victory."
Inside much of Syria, the focus for now is on unravelling the secrets of Assad's rule, and particularly the network of detention centres and suspected torture sites scattered across areas previously under government control.
Syrians have flooded to prisons, hospitals and morgues in search of long-disappeared loved ones, hoping for a miracle, or at least closure.
"I turned the world upside down looking," Abu Mohammed said as he searched for news of three missing relatives at the Mazzeh airbase in Damascus. "But I didn't find anything at all. We just want a hint of where they were, one per cent." - AFP
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