DAMASCUS: Syria’s new ruler called on people across the country to celebrate “the victory of the revolution” on Friday, as G7 leaders looked to forge a common approach to the new government.
More than half a century of rule by the Assad clan came to a sudden end on Sunday, after a lightning opposition offensive led by Abu Mohammed al-Golani’s group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept across the country and took the capital.
Ousted president Bashar al-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.
“I would like to congratulate the great Syrian people on the victory of the blessed revolution and I call on them to go to the streets to express their joy,” Golani said on Telegram.
Golani, who is now using his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa, is set to attend Friday prayers at Damascus’s landmark Umayyad Mosque.
During the early days of Syria’s uprising in 2011, protesters would often gather after noon prayers on Fridays, the Muslim day of prayer and rest.
Assad’s overthrow has allowed Syrians to flood 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 told AFP 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 percent.”
HTS is rooted in Syria’s branch of Al-Qaeda and designated a terrorist organisation by many Western governments, who now face the challenge of how to approach the country’s new transitional leadership.
The group has sought to moderate its rhetoric, and the interim government insists the rights of all Syrians will be protected.
The spokesman for the newly installed government, Obaida Arnaout, told AFP that the country’s constitution and parliament would be suspended during a three-month transition.
“A judicial and human rights committee will be established to examine the constitution and then introduce amendments,” he said, pledging that the “rule of law” would be instituted.
Group 7 will meet today over Syria
Leaders of the Group of Seven countries, who will meet virtually at 1430 GMT on Friday, said they were ready to support the transition to an “inclusive and non-sectarian” government in Syria.
They called for the protection of human rights, including those of women and minorities, while emphasising “the importance of holding the Assad government accountable for its crimes”.
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.
