- PM announces new elections, but smooth transfer of power remains challenge for entire region
DAMASCUS: Syrian rebels said they overthrew President Bashar al-Assad after seizing control of Damascus on Sunday, forcing him to flee and ending his family’s decades of autocratic rule after more than 13 years of civil war.
In a seismic moment for the Middle East, the rebels also dealt a major blow to the influence of Russia and Iran in Syria, at the heart of the region – allies who had supported Assad during critical periods of war but were distracted by other crises. recently.
The rebels said they entered the capital without any signs of military deployment. Thousands of people, in cars or on foot, gathered in a main square in Damascus, waving and chanting “Freedom” from half a century of Assad family rule, witnesses said.
People were seen walking inside the Al-Rawda Presidential Palace, some exiting with furniture from inside.
“We celebrate with the Syrian people the news of the release of our prisoners and the release from their chains,” the rebels said.
Rebel commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani said there was no possibility of turning back.
“The future belongs to us,” he said in a statement read on Syrian state television after his forces captured Damascus.
The pace of events has stunned Arab capitals and raised concerns about a new wave of instability in a region already gripped by unrest following the spread of conflict following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and the war in Gaza that followed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Assad’s fall was a direct result of Israel’s blows against Iran and its ally Hezbollah.
French President Emmanuel Macron declared that “the barbaric state has fallen” and paid tribute to the Syrian people.
A difficult task ahead
When the celebrations subside, Syria’s new leaders will face the daunting task of trying to bring stability to a diverse country with competing factions that will need billions of dollars in aid and investment to rebuild.
Syria’s long civil war, which erupted in 2011 as an uprising against Assad’s rule, has reduced cities to rubble and killed hundreds of thousands of people.
Stakeholders range from Turkey to the United States, including Islamists and Kurds.
One possible challenge could be a resurgence of Islamic State, which imposed a reign of terror over large swaths of Syria and Iraq and directed external operations at its peak.
President Joe Biden’s administration was monitoring developments but has not yet adjusted the positioning of the roughly 900 troops in Syria, U.S. officials told Reuters.
Underscoring the rapid changes, the Iranian embassy was stormed by Syrian rebels, Iran’s English-language Press TV reported.
Iran, whose elite Revolutionary Guards have faced deadly Israeli strikes in Syria, gave a measured response. His Foreign Ministry has said that Syria’s fate is the sole responsibility of the Syrian people and must be pursued without foreign imposition or destructive intervention.
Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which has provided crucial support to Assad for years, withdrew all its forces from Syria on Saturday as rebel factions approached Damascus, two Lebanese security sources told Reuters on Sunday.
Assad, who had not spoken publicly since the rebels’ sudden advance a week ago, left Damascus on Sunday for an unknown destination, two senior army officers told Reuters.
His current whereabouts, nor that of his wife Asma and their two children, were unknown. The Russian Foreign Ministry said Assad left office and left the country after ordering a peaceful transfer of power.
Syria’s rebel coalition said it was continuing its efforts to complete the transfer of power in the country to a transitional government body with full executive powers.
“The great Syrian revolution has moved from the stage of the struggle to overthrow the Assad regime to the struggle to build together a Syria that deserves the sacrifices of its people,” he added in a statement.
Throughout the civil war, security forces detained hundreds of thousands of people in detention camps where international human rights organizations say torture was a universal practice. Families are often not informed of the fate of their loved ones.
Disoriented and elated prisoners walked out of Syrian prisons on Sunday, shouting with joy as they walked out of one of the world’s most notorious detention systems.
The newly released prisoners ran through the streets of Damascus raising the fingers of both hands to show how many years they had been in prison, asking passersby what had happened, without immediately understanding that Assad had fallen.
Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali called for free elections in a country where Assad’s opponents have faced barrel bombs.
Jalali also said he had been in contact with Golani to discuss the management of the transition period, marking a notable development in efforts to shape Syria’s political future.
The collapse of the Assad regime follows a shift in the balance of power in the Middle East after many leaders of Hezbollah, a pillar of Assad’s fighting force, were killed by Israel over the last two months.
Russia, a staunch ally of Assad, intervened decisively in 2015 to help Assad during Syria’s civil war. But it is slowed down by the war in Ukraine.
The United States will maintain its presence
The Syrian civil war has drawn in a series of outside powers, created space for jihadist militants to plan attacks around the world, and sent millions of refugees to neighboring states.
The front lines remained inactive for years. Then, in late November, Islamists formerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda suddenly took action.
Western governments, which have shunned the Assad-led state for years, must now decide how to handle a new administration in which a globally designated terrorist group – Golani’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – appears poised to exert influence. .
The former military commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, retired Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, has expressed concern about Syria’s future.
“I wish I could be more hopeful that this will mean good news for the Syrian people…We could see the rise of an Islamic state there, which would have profound negative implications throughout the region.” It’s possible,” McKenzie told ABC News.
The United States will continue to maintain its presence in eastern Syria and take necessary steps to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State, Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Daniel Shapiro said Sunday. of a conference in Manama.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said “terrorist organizations” must not be allowed to take advantage of the situation in Syria and urged caution.
HTS, which led the rebels’ advance into western Syria, was once an al-Qaeda affiliate until its leader Golani severed ties with the global jihadist movement in 2016.
“The real question is how orderly this transition will be, and it seems clear that Golani really wants it to be orderly,” said Joshua Landis, an expert on Syria and director of the Center for Studies. on the Middle East at the University. from Oklahoma.
“They’re going to have to rebuild…they’re going to need Europe and the United States to lift sanctions,” Landis added.
HTS is Syria’s most powerful rebel group and some Syrians fear it could impose draconian Islamist rule or incite reprisals.
Countries like the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, both close U.S. allies, view Islamist militant groups as an existential threat, so HTS could face resistance from regional heavyweights.
Israel said it had deployed forces in the UN-monitored buffer zone with Syria and in a number of points necessary for defense.
Suspected Israeli strikes hit the Mazzeh district of Damascus, a Lebanese and Syrian security source said on Sunday.
Apparently Israeli planes bombed the Khalkhala air base in southern Syria, which was evacuated by the Syrian army overnight, two regional security sources told Reuters.
The Israeli government had no immediate comment on the reported strikes, which one of the sources said appeared aimed at preventing weapons from falling into the hands of radical Islamist groups.
