Syria without Assad: “We have been waiting for this day for a long time”

In Damascus, shots of joy rang out and religious invocations were launched through the loudspeakers of mosques. Still stunned by the announcement of the “flight” of President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian capital woke up before dawn on Sunday under rebel control.

According to witnesses contacted by AFP, a few dozen people gathered in Umayyad Square, in the center of Damascus, to celebrate the fall of the Assad clan in power for more than half a century, in a country fragmented by a deadly civil war since 2011.

“We have been waiting for this day for a long time,” said Amer Batha, reached by telephone by AFP from Umayyad Square, in a country ruled with an iron fist by a power which repressed all dissent and stifled public freedoms.

“I can’t believe”

“I can’t believe I’m living this moment,” said this Syrian, who burst into tears: “It’s a new story that’s beginning for Syria.”

In another public square in the center of Damascus, under shouts of “Allah Akbar” (“God is the greatest”) launched to express the joy of the crowd, dozens of residents trampled a statue of Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, after making him fall and breaking him, according to images from AFPTV.

“Syria is ours, it does not belong to the Assad family,” chanted armed men from rebel groups circulating in some streets of Damascus, firing into the air in joy.

“The Syrian people are united”

The regime’s soldiers hastily got rid of the military uniforms of the Syrian army, leaving the headquarters of the general staff on Umayyad Square, residents told AFP.

Illustrating the disarray that accompanied the rebels’ dazzling offensive in the capital, the premises housing public television and radio were abandoned by civil servants, according to a former employee.

A few kilometers away, in picturesque old Damascus where many Christian families live, young Syrians in the narrow alleys chanted “the Syrian people are united”, a message intended to be reassuring to the minorities of a multi-faith country. , torn apart by 13 years of a murderous and devastating civil war.

“I will no longer be afraid”

In another neighborhood, in Chaghour, women on balconies shouted with joy, others threw rice as armed fighters passed by.

“I can’t believe that from today I will no longer be afraid,” Ilham Basatina, a fervent fifty-year-old perched on his balcony in Chaghour, told AFP.

“Today our joy is immense, but it will only be complete when the criminal is judged,” she said, referring to Bashar al-Assad. The rebels who entered Damascus announced that the “tyrant” had fled.

Before daybreak, the capital was shaken by five strong explosions of unknown origin, probably artillery fire or explosions in ammunition warehouses, according to a soldier on the run, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Our direct superior informed us that we had to withdraw and go home,” he told AFP: “We understood that everything was over.”

“At the gates of a new era”

On social networks, journalists, civil service employees and parliamentarians rushed to change their profile photos, choosing to display the opposition flag.

“It is not the fault of Syrian journalists and media,” explained the editor-in-chief of the pro-government daily Al-Watan, Waddad Abd Rabbo. “All of us were just carrying out the orders and publishing the information they sent us,” referring to the authorities.

On Facebook, Syrian actor Ayman Zidan admitted that he was “delusional.” »Perhaps we were trapped in a culture of fear. Or were we afraid of change, because we thought it would lead us to blood and chaos,” he adds.

“But here we are at the gates of a new era, with men who impressed us with their nobility and a culture of forgiveness and the desire to restore the unity of the Syrian people,” he said again in reference to the rebels.

These rebels who in the streets of Damascus, in military fatigues, knelt to kiss the ground in emotion or to pray. Others took photos of themselves, the heavy gunfire ringing out continuously.

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