“Free”, “we are no longer afraid”, “nightmare over”, declarations of euphoric Syrians who returned after the overthrow of Mr. Assad, driven from power by a coalition of rebel factions led by the Hayat Tahrir al-group. Sham (HTS).
For several days, scenes of jubilation broke out in different cities in Syria and among Syrians in the diaspora, after millions of Syrians fled the war.
The statues of Bashar al-Assad and his father Hafez, whose family ruled the country for 50 years, are destroyed in several cities. His palace and residence in Damascus were ransacked. “He lived in luxury while we suffered,” exclaims a Syrian.
On December 8, the rebel coalition entered Damascus and announced the overthrow of power, after a surprise and dazzling offensive which allowed it to seize most of the country in 11 days. Abandoned by his close allies, Iran and Russia, Mr. Assad fled to Moscow and his army was defeated.
Led by Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, HTS claims to have broken with jihadism but remains classified as “terrorist” by several Western capitals, including Washington.
The new Prime Minister in charge of the transition, Mohammad al-Bashir, promised the rule of law in the face of “concerns” from the international community.
Became “crazy”
Each day that passes for a week has given rise to macabre discoveries, testimony to the worst abuses of the fallen power.
As they advanced and captured towns, the rebels opened prisons and freed inmates, sometimes from basements or behind walls.
Thousands of people rushed to prisons, police stations, intelligence centers and military centers across the country, seeking information on their missing loved ones.
Journalist Mohammed Darwish, 34, returned to the intelligence-run Palestine Branch detention center in Damascus, where he was held for 120 days.
He remembers this young Turkish man who was made “crazy” by the rain of blows that fell on him. “This cell has witnessed so many tragedies,” he told AFP.
Mehmet Ertürk also spent part of his 21 years of detention in Syria in the “Palestine branch”.
“Our bones came out of the flesh when they hit our wrists with hammers,” says this 53-year-old Turk, who returned to his country after his release. “They also poured boiling water on the neck of a fellow detainee.”
American contact with HTS
During the celebrations, tongues begin to loosen. “The fear has disappeared,” rejoices Lina al-Istaz, a 57-year-old civil servant in Damascus.
“The Assad father and son oppressed us but we liberated our country from injustice,” enthuses a 47-year-old police officer in Aleppo (north).
“We have been separated for more than 40 years. Today we have come to celebrate in Damascus, because the one who separated us has left,” said Susan Soliman, from Tartous (west).
The fall of Mr. Assad, ostracized by a large part of the international community after the start of the war in 2011, was welcomed by many countries.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that the United States had established direct contact with HTS and “other parties.” He specified that this contact was notably part of efforts to locate Austin Tice, an American journalist kidnapped in 2012 in Syria.
Many challenges
After several days of euphoria, Syrians returned to their normal lives, hoping that the misfortunes of recent decades would remain behind them.
“We need to quickly revive activity in the souk,” says Amjad Sandouq, a trader at the famous Hamidiyé souk in old Damascus. “The regime has fallen, but the State has not fallen, thank God.”
On Sunday, dozens of students, in uniform, returned to school in Damascus, for the first time since the fall of Mr. Assad.
According to a public school employee, the attendance rate on Sunday “does not exceed 30%”, but “the figures should gradually increase”.
Shops and businesses have also reopened. Around ten people are waiting in line in front of a bakery. On the sidewalks, street vendors offer cans of gasoline to residents while power cuts are frequent.
Bruised by nearly 14 years of devastating war triggered by the repression of pro-democracy demonstrations, the country is faced with an economy in tatters and international sanctions.
Without forgetting foreign interference and a very heavy human toll: half a million dead and six million Syrians on the run.
(With AFP)
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