Mass rallies across Syria celebrate fall of Assad: ‘Friday of victory’
Fireworks and waving flags mark the first Friday prayers since a lightning rebel offensive ended over half a century of brutal rule
Syrians rejoiced into the night as fireworks exploded on the first Friday – the Muslim day of rest and prayer – since the ousting 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.
Assad’s fall has also led to fast-moving diplomatic developments. Turkey announced it will reopen on Saturday its embassy, closed since 2012 amid Turkish government calls at that time for Assad to step down.
A Qatari diplomat said a delegation from the Gulf emirate is to visit Syria on Sunday to meet officials of the transitional government and “take the necessary steps to reopen the embassy and discuss enhancing aid delivery”. Unlike other Arab states, Qatar never restored diplomatic ties with Assad after a rupture in 2011.
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 Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which spearheaded the offensive, had called on Syrians “to go to the streets to express their joy”.
