Thousands of Syrians take to the streets to celebrate

(Keystone-ATS) “I congratulate the Syrian people on the victory of the revolution and call on them to take to the streets to express their joy,” Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, leader of the radical Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), told the head of the armed coalition that toppled Mr. Assad.

At the end of an 11-day offensive, a coalition of rebel groups dominated by HTS seized Damascus on December 8, ending half a century of power for the Assad family.

Thousands of men, women and children converged in the centers of the main cities, in Damascus, the capital, Homs and Aleppo in the north, and Soueida in the south.

Many waved the three-star flag adopted by the new authorities in a festive atmosphere reminiscent of the major demonstrations at the start of the war in 2011 before their bloody repression degenerated into a devastating conflict.

“The Assad father and son oppressed us but we liberated our country from injustice,” enthuses a 47-year-old policeman in Aleppo, while a sound system broadcasts slogans and songs.

“Our joy is indescribable,” exclaims Haitham Houdeifa, 54 years old in the Druze stronghold of Soueida.

“United, united, united, the Syrian people are united,” chanted the faithful at the famous Umayyad mosque in Damascus, where the Prime Minister in charge of the transition until March 1, Mohammad al-Bashir, went.

Avoiding a resurgence of ISIS

But the jubilation is also tinged with seriousness.

On the walls of the mosque, dozens of photos of people disappeared at the hands of the former security services are hung, testifying to the painful search for loved ones led by many Syrians after decades of fierce repression.

The country, multi-ethnic and multi-religious, is facing numerous challenges, in the face of which the new authorities are trying to reassure, and the international community is mobilizing.

The leaders of the G7 countries meet by videoconference on Friday to talk about Syria, where Mr. Bashir has promised to establish a “rule of law”. And on Saturday in Jordan, American, European, Arab and Turkish ministers and senior diplomats will discuss the same subject.

During a regional tour focusing on Syria, the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, repeated in Iraq and Turkey that the United States would work to prevent any resurgence of the jihadist group Islamic State (IS), after the transfer of power Syrian.

In Jordan, he called for “an inclusive transition” towards a “responsible and representative” government.

The European Union wants to enter into contact “soon” with the Syrian authorities, at an “operational” level, according to a senior European official.

“Bad hands”

HTS, whose leader Jolani now goes by his real name, Ahmad al-Chareh, took most of the country during the offensive. He claims to have broken with jihadism but remains classified as a “terrorist” by several Western capitals, including Washington.

In northeastern Syria, the United States maintains about 900 troops and supports the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which defeated ISIS in Syria’s war.

Neighboring Turkey supports rebel forces engaged against the SDF, which it considers to be an emanation of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), its sworn enemy.

The SDF welcomed the fall of Mr. Assad and the autonomous Kurdish administration it installed in the regions under its control and adopted the new Syrian flag.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the army on Friday to “prepare to stay” all winter in the buffer zone with Syria, located on the edge of the Golan Heights occupied by Israel since 1967. . Israeli troops entered there after the fall of Mr. Assad.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria against strategic military sites in recent days to prevent Syrian army equipment from falling into “wrong hands,” according to Mr. Blinken.

EU Humanitarian Bridge

After his appointment on Tuesday, Mohammad al-Bashir called on exiled Syrians to return, pledging to “guarantee the rights of all”.

Some six million Syrians, a quarter of the population, have fled the country during 13 years of civil war, which has left more than half a million dead.

In Aleppo, where the Christian community has been reduced to some 30,000 people since 2011, Father Bahjat says he understands the concerns about the new power. “But on the ground we have not suffered discrimination,” he assures.

The EU announced Friday the launch of a humanitarian airlift to Syria, via Turkey, after the World Food Program launched an urgent appeal for $250 million to provide “food aid” in Syria.

The UN has recorded more than a million new displaced people since the launch of the rebel offensive.

The High Commission for Refugees in Syria affirmed that the new Syrian authorities had sent a “constructive signal” to the agency by asking it to stay in Syria,