Thousands across Syria have taken to the streets to celebrate the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal regime and the end to a catastrophic civil war.
The rallies will see thousands marking an end to 53 years of authoritarian rule under the Assad family since 1971, when Hafez al-Assad became president under the Ba’ath Party following the 1970 Coup.
Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammad al-Golani has urged the public not to fire shots during celebrations after a man reportedly lost control of his machine gun and accidentally fire on bystanders during celebrations in Raqqa on Thursday.
“I invite them to take to the streets to express their joy without firing bullets and scaring people. After that, let’s build the country,” Mr Golani said in a video address, according to CNN.
It comes amid fears that Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile will be smuggled out of the country. Hamish de Bretton Gordon, the former head of the British Army's chemical weapons unit, told Sky News: "We know ISIS and al Qaeda know all about chemical weapons and would like to get hold them, so that is a real concern.”
It is “not ideal” for Israel to be bombing Assad’s chemical weapons sites, Mr Gordon added.
KEY POINTS
- Details of rebels’ year-long plot to oust Assad revealed
- In pictures: Huge crowds celebrate end of the Assad era
- Fears that Syria’s chemical weapons could be ‘smuggled out’ of country
- 1.1 million Syrians newly displaced, says UN
- UN chief calls on Israel to withdraw from buffer zone
Watch: Jubilant Syrians gather for first Friday prayers since Assad regime fell
Friday 13 December 2024 15:57 , Bel TrewSyrians in Damascus have gathered at the historic Umayyad Mosque for their first Friday prayers following the downfall of dictator Bashar al-Assad's regime.
People took to the streets singing and dancing as they celebrated the end of a catastrophic civil war.
Worshippers, some of whom had travelled across the country to visit the mosque, were seen taking selfies at the monument.
It came as rallies on Friday (13 December) marked an end to 53 years of authoritarian rule under the Assad family since 1971, when Hafez al-Assad became president under the Ba’ath Party following the 1970 Coup.
The Independent’s Bel Trew is in Damascus:
Jubilant Syrians gather for first Friday prayers since Assad regime fell
Austria offers Syrian refugees €1,000 euros to return to home country
Friday 13 December 2024 15:48 , Alex CroftAustria’s conservative government said on Friday it will offer Syrian refugees a “return bonus” of €1,000 (£829) to return to their home country after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
The country was the first in Europe to suspend processing for Syrian asylum seekers, with chancellor Karl Nehammer saying on Sunday - the day Assad was ousted - that the security situation should be reassessed to allow the deportation of Syrian refugees.
"Austria will support Syrians who wish to return to their home country with a return bonus of 1,000 euros. The country now needs its citizens in order to be rebuilt," Mr Nehammer said in an English-language post on X.
Analysis | How can Putin be defeated? Assad’s fall provides lesson for West
Friday 13 December 2024 15:27 , Alex CroftThe fall of the Assad regime in Syria has led to questions over Russia’s ability to sustain its military adventures abroad. Russia had supported Assad militarily for over a decade, building on longstanding ties between Moscow and Damascus. But the rapid advance of anti-government forces this month saw Russia apparently powerless to influence the situation beyond a number of airstrikes (as always, apparently mostly delivered on civilian targets) in support of government forces.
That has inevitably led people to draw conclusions about Russia’s ability to project power overseas, and what it may mean for the course of the war in Ukraine.
But hasty comparisons should be avoided. There is a world of difference between a distant operation in support of a friend of Moscow clinging to power and a major war on Russia’s own borders for territory which Vladimir Putin has declared should be Moscow’s to rule.
Keir Giles writes:
How can Putin be defeated? Assad’s fall provides lesson for West
US ‘pilgrim’ freed from Syria jail heading to Jordan – but says he will return to Damascus
Friday 13 December 2024 15:05 , Bel Trew, Tom WatlingAn American who was freed by rebels in Syria after spending seven months in prison has told The Independent he is on his way to Jordan – but that he plans to return to Damascus.
Travis Timmerman, thought to be from Missouri, was found on Thursday in a town outside the Syrian capital after footage appeared on social media showing him sleeping in a private home.
Mr Timmerman had been reported as missing in May, having last been seen in the Hungarian capital, Budapest. Mr Timmerman said he had snuck from Lebanon into Syria and he was arrested and held in the Far Falastin prison, operated by Syrian intelligence. He was then freed alongside thousands of others on Monday after rebels toppled the Assad regime.
The Independent’s chief international correspondent Bel Trew reports with Tom Watling:
US ‘pilgrim’ freed from Syria jail on way to Jordan – but wants return to Damascus
Rebels reveal details of year-long plot to oust Assad
Friday 13 December 2024 14:43 , Alex CroftSyrian rebels have started revealing details of the year-long plot to bring down Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Abu Hafs al-Hamwi, the head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s (HTS) military wing, spoke about how his group communicated with rebels in other parts of Syria, in an attempt to unify the war effort.
Here are the key points of Mr Hamwi’s interview with The Guardian:
- Planning for the specific operation to oust Assad, named “deterring aggression”, began a year ago, although the group had been planning for years.
- After noting an “absence of unified leadership” after a disastrous campaign in August 2019, HTS decided to try and unify the fight.
- With the rebel groups confined to a small pocket of north west Syria, HTS offered other groups to merge under its leadership. Many which refused were forced to obey through military action.
- HTS got to work, analysing strategic weak points of Assad’s forces and creating a military doctrine. It began producing its own weaponry and its own drone unit.
- A centralised war room was founded after HTS reached out to the roughly 25 rebel groups in the south.
- HTS decided the time was right in November. Russia was bogged down with Ukraine, and Russia’s backers in the Middle East - Iran and Hezbollah - were weakened after fights with Israel.
- They began the operation on November 29, and it culminated in the collapse of the Assad regime around one week later.
Watch: First Friday prayers since Assad regime fell at Damascus’ historic Umayyad Mosque
Friday 13 December 2024 14:21 , Bel TrewThe Independent’s chief international correspondent Bel Trew is on the scene.
In pictures: Huge crowds celebrate end of the Assad era
Friday 13 December 2024 14:01 , Alex Croft
UN special envoy for Syria envisages ‘challenges' ahead for Syria
Friday 13 December 2024 13:35 , Alex CroftThe UN’s special envoy for Syria says there are many challenges ahead for stabilising Syria, as rebel leaders look to establish authority over the country.
"While there have been developments towards interim stabilization in some aspects, there continue to be many challenges," a spokesperson for Geir Pedersen told a Geneva briefing on Friday. "The situation remains very fluid."
Mr Pederson will travel to Jordan and meet Arab foreign ministers on Friday, the spokesperson added. He will meet with Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan and US secretary of state Antony Blinken.
Assad drug empire unearthed following regime collapse
Friday 13 December 2024 13:15 , Alex CroftThe drug empire led by Bashar al-Assad’s brother is being unearthed following the collapse of the former Syrian regime.
Captagon, addictive amphetamine-like stimulant popular across the Middle East and dubbed “poor-man’s cocaine”.
Thousands of pills have been discovered hidden in furniture and fruit, in a large abandoned warehouses in the city of Douma.
For years, Washington and its allies accused the Assad regime of profiteering from the production and sale of captagon - something the Syrian government persistently denied.
Fears chemical weapons will be picked up by ISIS and al-Qaeda
Friday 13 December 2024 12:56 , Alex CroftA former head of the British Army’s chemical weapons unit says he is concerned about the risk of Syrian chemical weapons falling into the wrong hands.
Hamish de Bretton Gordon told Sky News: "We know ISIS and al Qaeda know all about chemical weapons and would like to get hold of them, so that is a real concern.”
It is “not ideal” for Syria to be bombing Assad’s chemical weapons sites, he said.
It comes after a former chemical weapons inspector with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Jerry Smith, also raised concerns.
With no unitary government in Syria, removing chemical weapons is difficult, Mr Smith told Sky’s The World with Yalda Hakim.
"The concern would be that the [chemical] agent could still be loose, and that terrorist organisations get hold of it and potentially smuggle it out,” he added.
"If they got into the wrong hands, greater risks could follow downstream."
Bashar al-Assad ‘told no one’ of plans to flee
Friday 13 December 2024 12:35 , Alex CroftThe president of Syria’s ousted regime, Bashar al-Assad, told almost no one about his plans to flee Syria as his reign collapsed following a lightning rebel offensive.
Aides, officials and relatives were deceived or not told about his plans, Reuters news agency was told by more than a dozen people with knowledge of the events.
Hours before fleeing to Moscow, Assad told a meeting of 30 army and security chiefs on Saturday that Russian military support was on its way, and urged forces on the ground to hold out, a commander who was present at the briefing said.
When Assad finished work on Saturday, he told his presidential office manager that he was going home - but instead left for the airport, an aide in his inner circle revealed.
Assad’s media adviser, Buthaina Shaaban, received a call from the former president asking her to come to his home to write him a speech. When she arrived, no one was there.
"Assad didn’t even make a last stand. He didn’t even rally his own troops," Nadim Houri, executive director of the Arab Reform Initiative regional think-tank, told Reuters. "He let his supporters face their own fate."
Pictured: New Syrian prime minister issues sermon in Friday prayers
Friday 13 December 2024 12:13 , Alex Croft
China and Egypt to push for peace in Middle East
Friday 13 December 2024 11:50 , Alex CroftBeijing has agreed with Egypt that both nations should promote pace in the Middle East, according to a media pool report.
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi met with Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty in Beijing on Friday.
Both countries are concerned with the situation in Syria, he said, calling for respect for the nation’s sovereignty and independence.
Mr Yi also welcomed a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon.
Watch: Man who sparked Syrian war as a teenager returns to scene of first rebellion
Friday 13 December 2024 11:25 , Alex CroftIn pictures: Friday morning prayers precede mass demonstrations
Friday 13 December 2024 11:05 , Alex Croft
In pictures: Crowds prepare for first Friday prayers after Assad’s downfall
Friday 13 December 2024 10:54 , Alex Croft
Antony Blinken meets Turkish foreign minister to discuss Syria
Friday 13 December 2024 10:35 , Alex CroftUS secretary of state Antony Blinken has met the Turkish foreign minister and discussed continued US-Turkish efforts to keep Islamic State down in Syria.
Mr Blinken revealed he met Turkey’s Hakan Fidan in Ankara, he said on Friday.
"Our countries worked very hard and gave a lot over many years to ensure the elimination of the territorial caliphate of ISIS, to ensure that that threat doesn’t rear its head again, and it’s imperative that we keep at those efforts," Mr Blinken told a news conference.
There is a broad agreement on what Turkey and the US want to see in Syria after Assad was ousted, Mr Blinken said.
Bel Trew | I sparked Syria’s revolution as a teenage boy – now I’m here to finish it
Friday 13 December 2024 10:15 , Alex CroftAngry with life under Bashar al-Assad, 16-year-old Muawiyah Syasneh and his friends spray-painted four words onto a wall in their school playground.
Four words of defiance that saw the teenagers jailed and tortured for weeks, triggering Syria’s first protests in early 2011.
Four words that ignited a revolution that spiralled into one of the bloodiest civil wars of modern times.
Four words that simply read: “It’s your turn, Doctor.”
It was a reference to Assad, who was an ophthalmologist in London before he returned to Syria to continue his family’s brutal regime.
Bel Trew writes:
I sparked Syria’s revolution as a teenage boy – now I’m here to finish it
Family of missing Austin Tice say they are ‘incredibly hopeful’
Friday 13 December 2024 09:55 , Alex CroftThe family of a US journalist who was captured in Syria more than a decade ago has said they are “incredibly hopeful” he will be returned.
Austin Tice was just 31 years old when he was captured close to Damascus in August 2012, while covering the Syrian civil war. It is believed he was taken by the Syrian government.
The complexity of the situation in Syria had made it difficult to know who had captured him or where he was being held, but after rebels ousted the Assad regime last week, the family had renewed hopes the journalist could be recovered.
Tom Watling reports.
Family of Austin Tice say they have new hope the journalist will be found in Syria
Fears that Syria’s chemical weapons could be ‘smuggled out’ of country
Friday 13 December 2024 09:39 , Alex CroftConcerns have been raised about Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile falling into the wrong hands.
Evidence was found by the global chemical weapons watchdog that the Assad regime had repeatedly used such weapons during the civil war.
Former chemical weapons inspector in Syria with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Jerry Smith, said there is a concern about the possibility of chemical weapons themselves or the ability to manufacture them falling into hostile hands.
With no unitary government in Syria, removing chemical weapons is difficult, Mr Smith told Sky’s The World with Yalda Hakim.
"The concern would be that the [chemical] agent could still be loose, and that terrorist organisations get hold of it and potentially smuggle it out,” he added.
"If they got into the wrong hands, greater risks could follow downstream."
Mass rallies to take place celebrating Assad’s fall
Friday 13 December 2024 09:25 , Alex CroftMass rallies are set to take place across Syria on Friday to celebrate the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal dictatorship and an end to the 53-year Assad dynasty.
Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammad al-Golani has urged the public not to fire celebratory shots, after celebrations in Raqqa turned deadly on Thursday when a man reportedly lost control of his machine gun, CNN reported.
In a video address, Mr Golani said: “I invite them to take to the streets to express their joy without firing bullets and scaring people. After that, let’s build the country.”
In pics: Israel boosts troops in Golan Heights
Friday 13 December 2024 09:13 , Alex Croft
Watch live: Damascus mosque sees first Friday prayers after Assad regime toppled
Friday 13 December 2024 08:53 , Holly PatrickWatch live as Damascus residents pray at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on the first Friday (13 December) after rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Syrians are celebrating the demise of Assad’s government after 13 years of civil war sparked by the president’s violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters following the Arab Spring.
A rebel coalition took control of the capital Damascus in a lightning offensive overnight on Sunday, 11 days after launching a major operation.
Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed the end of Assad’s “barbaric regime.”
Watch live: Damascus mosque sees first Friday prayers after Assad regime toppled
Israel will remain in UN buffer zone throughout winter - defence minister
Friday 13 December 2024 08:27 , Alex CroftIsraeli defence minister Israel Katz has ordered troops to remain on Mount Hermon throughout the winter, according to a statement from his office on Friday.
"Due to what is happening in Syria - there is enormous security importance to our holding on to the peak of Mount Hermon," the statement said.
The summit of Mount Hermon, situated wthin the buffer zone between Syria and Israel, is the highest permanently-manned UN position in the world.
Israeli forces seized the buffer zone on Sunday after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
In pictures: Funeral of activist Mazen al-Hamada
Friday 13 December 2024 08:00 , Alex CroftThe funeral of Syrian activist Mazen al-Hamada, whose dead body was found inside the notorious Sednaya prison after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, took place on Thursday.
Mr Hamada, who escaped Syria after months of torture and abuse - physical, mental and sexual - in Syrian prisons, sought Asylum in the Netherlands.
But upon returning to Syria in 2020, Mr Hamada disappeared. One going theory posed that Mr Hamad was lured back to Syria with the promise of other detainees being released if he did so.
A symbol of the brutality of Assad’s dictatorship, Mr Hamada is believed to have been executed days before his body was discovered on Monday.
Russia hopes to keep military bases in Syria, says minister
Friday 13 December 2024 07:30 , Alisha Rahaman SarkarRussia has established direct contact with the political committee of Syria’s Islamist rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Interfax news agency quoted Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov as saying.
Mr Mogdanov told reporters that Moscow aimed to maintain its military bases in Syria.
The minister said contacts with HTS, the most powerful force in the country after the overthrow of president Bashar al-Assad, were “proceeding in constructive fashion”.
Mr Bogdanov said Russia hoped to maintain its two bases in Syria - a naval base in Tartous and the Khmeimim Air Base near the port city of Latakia - to keep up efforts against international terrorism.
“The bases are still there, where they were on Syrian territory. No other decisions have been made for the moment,” he said.
Report: Thousands queue to flee Syria as ethnic minorities fear post-Assad future
Friday 13 December 2024 07:01 , Alex CroftThousands of Syrians are stranded on the Masnaa border crossing with Lebanon, looking to flee the country in fear for their futures after Islamist rebel groups ousted Bashar al-Assad’s brutal regime.
Minority groups in Syria, including Christians and Alawites, are among those concerned that the new Syria’s future may not be tolerant of their communities, many of whom opposed the revolution in 2011 and the subsequent 13-year civil war.
The Masnaa border point - the only operational crossing between Syria and Lebanon - has been inundated with huge queues of Syrians attempting to travel in both directions, with many hoping to return to a freed homeland after years of displacement in Lebanon.
Read the full report:
Thousands queue to flee Syria as ethnic minorities fear post-Assad future
Efforts underway to locate Austin Tice in Syria, says Blinken
Friday 13 December 2024 06:30 , Alisha Rahaman SarkarSecretary of state Antony Blinken during his Middle East visit said efforts to locate Austin Tice, another US citizen who was abducted in Syria over a decade ago, were continuing.
“No update on Austin Tice, except to say that every single day, we are working to find him and to bring him home, making sure that the word is out to everyone that this is a priority for the United States,” Mr Blinken said.
Tice, a former US Marine and journalist, was 31 when he was kidnapped in August 2012 while reporting in Damascus.
Mr Blinken’s statement comes after an American citizen was found in Syria yesterday.
“In terms of (the) American citizen who was found just today, I can’t give you any details on exactly what’s going to happen, except to say that we’re working to bring him home, to bring him out of Syria,” Mr Blinken told reporters in Jordan.
Austria may begin forced deportations of Syrians back to homeland - foreign minister
Friday 13 December 2024 06:01 , Alex CroftAustria’s forced deportation of Syrian refugees back to their original homeland will only happen when it is safe, the foreign minister said.
Chancellor Karl Nehammer called for a reassessment of security in Syria to enable the return of refugees to their home country. Similar to many centre-right parties in Europe, the ruling People’s Party (OVP) is under pressure from the far-right.
Asked when the returns might happen, Alexander Schallenberg told Reuters that “when it is possible, we will do it immediately”. He added: “I don’t know (when). Can you see into the future?”
Austria was the first of more than a dozen European countries to announce a suspension on processing Syrians’ asylum applications.
Vatican’s Palestinian Nativity scene raises eyebrows – and then disappears
Friday 13 December 2024 05:30 , Alisha Rahaman SarkarPope Francis presided over his weekly general audience on Wednesday alongside a Palestinian-crafted Nativity scene that was missing its eyebrow-raising signature element: a keffiyeh-draped manger holding the infant Jesus.
The wooden Nativity scene in the Vatican’s main audience hall had generated headlines when it was unveiled December 7 because of the presence of the keffiyeh, the black-and-white checkered headscarf that has become a potent symbol of the Palestinian cause.
Pope Francis had prayed before the creche briefly that day when he greeted the artists and donors responsible for all the Vatican’s Christmas decorations this year, which include various depictions of the manger in a Bethlehem stable where Jesus is said to have been born.
Nicole Winfield reports.
Vatican’s Palestinian Nativity scene raises eyebrows – and then disappears
Explainer | What is the Golan Heights and why is the territory so important to Israel and Syria?
Friday 13 December 2024 05:01 , Alex CroftExplainer | What is the Golan Heights and why is the territory so important to Israel and Syria?
The Golan Heights, situated in the southwest corner of Syria and bordering Israel, Lebanon and Jordan, is a 1,000 square mile rocky plateau around 40 miles (60 kilometres) from Damascus, although it possesses a significance far beyond that and has been a political flashpoint for decades.
Israeli has occupied the Golan Heights since the 1980s and now its troops have seized the demilitarised buffer zone, in response to the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal dictatorship in Syria.
Troops have also been deployed beyond the demilitarised buffer zone and into Syrian territory, with Israeli defence minister Israel Katz saying Israeli forces had been ordered to create a “sterile defence zone” in southern Syria, adding that they would not retain a permanent presence. Israel had previously described reports from Syrian sources that it had breached the buffer zone as “false”.
But what is the Golan Heights and why does Israel consider it so important?
What is the Golan Heights and why is it so important to Israel and Syria?
I sparked Syria’s revolution as a teenage boy – now I’m here to finish it
Friday 13 December 2024 04:30 , Alisha Rahaman SarkarMuawiyah Syasneh was 16 when his anti-Assad graffiti on a school wall led to his arrest, sparking protests that ended in civil war. Now, in the very same spot, he tells chief international correspondent Bel Trew about the years-long war – and his role in bringing it to an end
I sparked Syria’s revolution as a teenage boy – now I’m here to finish it
1.1 million Syrians displaced since Assad’s ouster, says UN
Friday 13 December 2024 04:28 , Alisha Rahaman SarkarMore than one million Syrians, mostly women and children, have been newly displaced in the embattled nation since armed rebels wrested power from president Bashar al-Assad and forced the brutal ruler to flee.
“As of 12 December, 1.1 million people have been newly displaced across the country since the start of the escalation of hostilities on 27 November. The majority are women and children,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said.
The humanitarian group said more than 400,000 people were staying in 240 collective shelters across northeastern areas of the country.
Turkey-backed forces continue advances in northern Syria
Friday 13 December 2024 04:00 , Alex CroftTurkey-backed rebel forces are continuing their advances in northern Syria with an aim to “clear terrorism”, a Turkish defence ministry source said on Thursday.
The rebel forces are fighting a US-backed Kurdish militia in the region. Turkey has repeatedly told the US that “a terrorist organisation cannot be eliminated by using another terrorist organisation”, the source added.
The US is backing the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in its fight against Islamic State. The SDF is led by a Kurdish militia regarded by Ankara as a terrorist group.
UN chief calls on Israel to withdraw from buffer zone
Friday 13 December 2024 03:30 , Alisha Rahaman SarkarUN chief Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned by the recent and extensive violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
The UN in a statement said the Israeli forces have not only moved into parts of the separation zone but also conducted a “defensive” air campaign.
Israel has captured the buffer zone on the border of Israel and Syria near Golan Heights and has launched hundreds of missiles inside Syria targeting weapons stockpiles, military facilities and airfields.
It has also bombed naval vessels off the Syrian coast.
“The secretary-general is particularly concerned over the hundreds of Israeli airstrikes on several locations in Syria,” the UN statement said, calling for urgent de-escalation “on all fronts, throughout Syria”.
Mr Guterres added it was “imperative to support credible, orderly and inclusive transitional arrangements in Syria”.
Syrian military officer charged with several counts of torture
Friday 13 December 2024 03:02 , Alisha Rahaman SarkarA court in the US has charged a former Syrian military official with several counts of torture for overseeing a prison where alleged human rights abuses took place.
He was arrested in July for visa fraud charges.Samir Ousman al-Sheikh, who oversaw Syria’s infamous Adra Prison from 2005 to 2008 under recently ousted president Bashar al-Assad, was charged by a federal grand jury with several counts of torture and conspiracy to commit torture.
“It’s a huge step toward justice,” said Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the US-based Syrian Emergency Task Force.
“Samir Ousman al-Sheikh’s trial will reiterate that the United States will not allow war criminals to come and live in the United States without accountability, even if their victims were not US citizens.”
Bel Trew | ‘They used us as a testing ground for all kinds of weapons’: Syrians return to destroyed town
Friday 13 December 2024 03:01 , Alex CroftFor miles, the bleached ribcages of bombed-out buildings on either side of the main highway north of Damascus flick past as you drive – a grim monument to some of the fiercest battles that took place between Bashar al-Assad’s forces and rebels at the start of the revolution more than a decade ago.
None of the residents of Jobar – once a revolutionary heartland – were able to return to or rebuild their homes as Syria’s civil war rolled on, even after the regime retook control.
Now, after Assad’s stunning defeat, families, some of whom returned from fleeing the country, pick through the dust-choked rubble of what was once their homes. They gather at Jobar’s chewed-up central graveyard to host the first funeral here in 13 years.
Our chief international correspondent Bel Trew reports:
‘They used us as a testing ground for weapons’: Syrians return to destroyed town
Syria’s caretaker PM urges refugees to ‘come home’
Friday 13 December 2024 02:03 , Alex CroftSyria’s caretaker prime minister Mohammed al-Bashir has urged all Syrians who fled president Bashar al-Assad’s brutal dictatorship to return and help “rebuild” the Arab nation.
“My appeal goes out to all Syrians abroad: Syria is now a free country that has regained its pride and dignity. Come back,” he told Corriere della Sera.
“We need to rebuild, to get our country on its feet again, and we need everyone’s help.”
At least 7.4 million Syrians remained internally displaced and nearly 4.9 million were seeking refuge in neighbouring countries, the UN said in a 2024 report.
We will not pardon Assad’s torturers, rebel commander says
Friday 13 December 2024 01:01 , Alex CroftSyrian rebel commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who fronted the group responsible for the collapse of the Assad regime, has vowed not to pardon the former dictator’s henchmen.
On Wednesday afternoon, Syria’s state broadcaster posted the commander’s comments.
“We will not pardon those who were involved in the torture and liquidation of detainees and were the cause of this,” the leader of Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) said.
“We will pursue them in our country, and we demand that countries hand over to us those of these criminals who fled to them in order to achieve justice against them.”
Watch: Tomb of Bashar al-Assad's father engulfed in flames as rebels set fire to mausoleum
Friday 13 December 2024 00:02 , Alex CroftSyrian rebels set fire to the tomb of Bashar al-Assad’s father in his family’s hometown in Al-Qardahah, near Latakia.
Eyewitness video released on Wednesday, 11 December, showed men gathering around flames inside the mausoleum of Hafez al-Assad.
The date of the footage could not be independently verified, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that gunmen set fire to the tomb on Tuesday.
Hafez Al-Assad took office on March 14 1971, seizing power in a bloodless coup in which Dr Noureddin Al-Atassi was overthrown.
His son Bashar was ousted over the weekend and fled to Russia where he was given political asylum.
The family ruled Syria for more than 50 years with a brutal regime.
Tomb of Bashar al-Assad’s father engulfed in flames as rebels set fire to mausoleum
Israel continues bombarding Syria - war monitor
Thursday 12 December 2024 23:18 , Alex CroftIsrael has continued its bombardment of Syria as the country looks to build a post-Assad future.
UK-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Wednesday: “Israeli warplanes continue to destroy what remains of Syria’s military arsenal for the fourth consecutive day since the fall of the former regime.”
Over 352 air strikes have been carried out in 13 Syrian provinces, the monitor said. They have been focussed on “warehouses, aircraft, radar systems and military signal stations, scientific research centres and weapons and ammunitions warehouses in different positions across Syria”.
Israel says it is targeting military infrastructure to guarantee its own security.
Palestinian factions in Syria set to meet new leaders
Thursday 12 December 2024 22:35 , Alex CroftSyria-based Palestinian factions have formed a unified delegation to meet the country’s new rebel-led authorities.
The factions said after a meeting at the Palestinian embassy that they stood by the side of the Syrian people.
They condemned Israel’s air strikes on Syria over the past few days that have destroyed much of the assets of the Syrian army.
The factions decided to form a joint committee to run the affairs of Palestinians in Syria as well as to be in contact with the new insurgent-led transitional government, following the ousting of president Bashar Assad.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians live in Syria, many of them refugees, and the factions that have been based in Damascus were close to Assad’s government. Hamas was based in Syria until it left in 2012, a year after the county’s civil war began.
Israeli military video said to show strikes on Syria 'weapons stockpiles'
Thursday 12 December 2024 21:56 , Alex CroftSyria’s former ruling party led by Assad suspends activities
Thursday 12 December 2024 21:22 , Alex CroftSyria’s Baath Party said it is suspending its work and activities until further notice as it deposed ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad.
All work and activity “will be suspended in all its forms until further notice,” a statement said on the party’s website.
The former ruling party, which has been led by the Assad family for decades, said that all its property, funds and weapons would be handed to police and law enforcement authorities.
“All the party’s property and funds will be placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice, and its proceeds are to be deposited in the Central Syrian Bank.”
How Putin’s intelligence agents convinced Assad to flee Syria
Thursday 12 December 2024 20:47 , Alex CroftRussian intelligence agents persuaded Bashar al-Assad to flee Syria with Moscow having become convinced that he would lose against the insurgents rapidly advancing on Damascus, sources have said.
Moscow offered Mr Assad a safe exit if he left the country immediately as the rebel forces led by former al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahir al-Sham (HTS) approached, leading to the toppling of 50 years of rule by the Assad family.
According to a report by Bloomberg, citing three people with knowledge of the situation, Russian agents flew Mr Assad out via a Russian airbase in Syria, with the aircraft’s transponder turned off to avoid being tracked.
Angus Thompson reports:
How Putin’s intelligence agents convinced Assad to flee Syria
In Focus | History tells us dictators who build the biggest bunkers have the most fragile minds
Thursday 12 December 2024 20:15 , Alex CroftWe have seen these scenes before, of course. As soon as the dictator has fled, his properties are stormed, revealing more wealth than his benighted people could have ever expected. The images and video coming out of Damascus over the past few days are therefore unexceptional – there are the requisite rows of incredibly expensive cars; the predictably naff and soulless marble palace; the textbook lurid and ghastly furniture. You can imagine Loyd Grossman taking us through the keyhole to ask “Who would live in a palace like this?”
The wealth of evil men such as Bashar al-Assad is always stolen from the people they claim to protect, but these images of dictator kitsch provide light relief from the other terrible scenes that always accompany a toppling – the horrors of the prisons and torture chambers.
History tells us dictators who build the biggest bunkers have the most fragile minds
Ukraine ‘gave rebels drones’
Thursday 12 December 2024 19:43 , Alex CroftSyrian fighters received about 150 drones and other covert support from Ukrainian intelligence operatives last month, weeks ahead of the rebels’ advance that toppled Bashar al-Assad over the weekend, according to The Washington Post.
The paper said Ukrainian intelligence sent about 20 drone operators and about 150 first-person-view drones about four to five weeks ago to aid Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Russia’s foreign ministry had earlier said the rebels had received drones from Ukraine and training in how to operate them, an accusation that Ukraine’s foreign ministry at the time said it categorically rejected.
Kurds in Syria face an uncertain future
Thursday 12 December 2024 19:11 , Alex CroftThe jihadi rebels who toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad say they want to build a unified, inclusive country. But after 14 years of civil war, putting that ideal into practice will not be easy. For Syria‘s Kurdish minority - America’s closest ally in the country - the struggle for a new order is entering a potentially even more challenging phase.
Over the course of Syria‘s civil war, Kurdish fighters have fended off an array of armed factions, partnered with the US to rout the Islamic State group and carved out a largely autonomous region in the country’s oil-rich east. But the gains of the non-Arab Kurds are now at risk. The ascendance of the Sunni Arab rebels who overthrew Assad — with vital help from Turkey, a longtime foe of the Kurds — will make it hard for the Kurds to find a place in the new Syria and could prolong the conflict.
The jihadi rebels who rode into Damascus over the weekend have made peaceful overtures to the Kurds. But the rebels violently drove Kurdish fighters out of the eastern city of Deir al-Zour days after government forces abandoned it. To the north, a separate opposition faction backed by Turkey that has been battling the Kurds for years seized the town of Manbij. And Turkey carried out airstrikes on a Kurdish convoy it said was carrying heavy weapons looted from government arsenals. The Kurds have long counted on US aid in the face of such challenges.
Around 900 American troops are in eastern Syria, where they partner with Kurdish forces to prevent an Islamic State resurgence.
But the future of that mission will be thrown into doubt under president-elect Donald Trump, who has long been skeptical about US involvement in Syria.
Safeguarding Russian bases and diplomats in Syria paramount: Kremlin
Thursday 12 December 2024 18:40 , Alex CroftThe Kremlin says ensuring the security of Russia’s military bases and diplomatic missions in Syria is of paramount importance.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was maintaining contacts with those in charge in Syria and that it was hopeful stability would be achieved.
Russia, whose airforce carried out strikes against advancing Syrian rebels earlier this month, before Bashar al-Assad’s regime was toppled, has a key air base in Latakia province and a naval facility at Tartous, its only Mediterranean repair and replenishment.
The Kremlin also took aim at Israel’s strikes against the Golan Heights region, in the border area abbutting Israel and Lebanon, after Israeli forces moved into the territory to prevent militant groups from occupying regions along the border which could be used to launch offensives into its territory.
Russia said Israel’s actions on the front were unlikely to contribute to Syria’s stabilisation.
Who is Mohammed al-Bashir? Syria’s new interim PM who has connections to both Assad and the rebels
Thursday 12 December 2024 18:08 , Alex CroftAfter more than half a century of the Assad family ruling over Syria, a little-known local politician has been named as the country’s interim leader and tasked with ushering in a stable government.
Three days on from rebels completing a sweeping offensive forcing Bashar Al-Assad, who succeeded his father as ruler, out of Syria and out of office, the country is looking to ensure a peaceful transition of power.
Mohammed al-Bashir, a politician who has been governing the rebel-controlled province of Idlib in northwest Syria, from which the offensive began, from January this year, has been made responsible for that transition.
In a brief address on state television on Tuesday, he announced that representatives of the rebels and the ousted government had agreed for him to act as caretaker until 1 March.
Tom Watling reports:
Who is Mohammed al-Bashir? Syria’s new interim PM tasked with ensuring peace
Rights group says Syrian refugees should not be forcefully sent back
Thursday 12 December 2024 17:37 , Alex CroftAs debate swirls over what to do with millions of displaced Syrian refugees seeking asylum in Western nations, Human Rights Watch said earlier today no government should send Syrian refugees back forcefully.
The statement comes after several European nations, including the UK and Germany, this week announced plans to pause asylum applications for Syrian citizens.
“Every citizen has the right to return to their home country, safe or not. But because one refugee chooses to repatriate is no justification to forcibly return another who remains fearful, as many Syrian refugees do, especially given the country’s unstable and possibly dangerous conditions,” the group said.
“This approach carries real risks, especially given how keen some European states are to declare Syria safe and begin returns,” it said, adding that Syria remains “inherently volatile”.
EU to discuss Syria’s future - but too early to lift sanctions
Thursday 12 December 2024 16:54 , Alex CroftForeign ministers in the European Union will discuss a common position on how to approach Syria’s transformation as the country embarks on a new era.
France’s foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine told a news conference on Thursday that it is too early to discuss lifting the sanctions imposed on Syria.
The EU first issued sanctions against Syria in May 2011.
Travis Timmerman: American who travelled to Syria on Christian pilgrimage freed from Assad jail
Thursday 12 December 2024 16:36 , Alex CroftAn American who spent seven months in a Syrian prison after crossing into the country on foot on a Christian pilgrimage has been found.
Travis Timmerman, who was found in the town of Dhiyabiya, says he was one of thousands of people released from Syrian prisons after rebel groups ousted the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad after a 13-year civil war on the weekend.
Speaking with CBS, Mr Timmerman revealed that he was freed by two men with AK-47s on Monday, after being detained when he entered Syria for “spiritual purposes”. He told Al-Arabiya TV network that he crossed into Syria on foot from the eastern Lebanese town of Zahle.
After being detained and spending seven months in prison, Timmerman’s “door was busted down”, he told CBS. “I thought the guards were still there, so I thought the warfare could have been more active than it ended up being.
Read the full report:
Travis Timmerman: US pilgrim discovered after months in Syrian jail
Israeli incursion into Golan Heights buffer zone is logical, says US
Thursday 12 December 2024 16:20 , Alex CroftIsrael’s incursion into the Golan Heights buffer zone is logical and in keeping with its right to self defence, the US national secuity adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday.
Mr Sullivan, who met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, is visiting the Middle East to discuss the situation in Syria and a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
He told reporters that the US is in deep consultation with Israel over its actions in Syria, adding that the US expects Israel’s seizure of the buffer zone to be temporary.
Israel seized the buffer zone separating the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria proper on Sunday, hours after Bashar al-Assad’s regime was deposed by Syrian rebels.
Israel described reports that it had moved beyond the buffer zone as “false”, before later stating troops had been deployed beyond the buffer zone into Syria to create a “sterile defence zone”.
In pictures: Funeral of activist Mazen al-Hamada
Thursday 12 December 2024 16:03 , Alex CroftThe funeral of Syrian activist Mazen al-Hamada, whose dead body was found inside the notorious Sednaya prison after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, took place on Thursday.
Mr Hamada, who escaped Syria after months of torture and abuse - physical, mental and sexual - in Syrian prisons, sought Asylum in the Netherlands.
But upon returning to Syria in 2020, Mr Hamada disappeared. One going theory posed that Mr Hamad was lured back to Syria with the promise of other detainees being released if he did so.
A symbol of the brutality of Assad’s dictatorship, Mr Hamada is believed to have been executed days before his body was discovered on Monday.
Turkish and Qatari officials to meet rebel leaders in Damascus
Thursday 12 December 2024 15:48 , Alex CroftTurkey’s foreign minister, intelligence chief, and Qatar’s head of state security will meet with Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani and caretaker prime minister Mohammed al-Bashir in Damascus, the Syrian information ministry said.
The Turkish foreign ministry has confirmed that minister Hakan Fidan is in Damascus.
It comes after Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin was revealed to be in Damascus by two sources speaking to Reuters.
Turklish media outlet Yeni Safak said Mr Kalin was at the Ummayyad Mosque in Damascus, where a Reuters reporter saw at least one car moving towards the mosque amid heavy security and large crowds.
It was not immediately clear who was in the car.
In pictures: American Travis Timmerman found in Syria
Thursday 12 December 2024 15:31 , Alex Croft
Syria’s new administration to suspend constitution
Thursday 12 December 2024 15:13 , Alex CroftThe newly formed administration in Syria will suspend the existing legislature and constitution after president Bashar al-Assad was topped, a source close to the government told Reuters on Thursday.
A committee of experts will be created to make amendments to the current constitution, the source indicated.
Report: Thousands queue to flee Syria as ethnic minorities fear post-Assad future
Thursday 12 December 2024 14:55 , Alex CroftThousands of Syrians are stranded on the Masnaa border crossing with Lebanon, looking to flee the country in fear for their futures after Islamist rebel groups ousted Bashar al-Assad’s brutal regime.
Minority groups in Syria, including Christians and Alawites, are among those concerned that the new Syria’s future may not be tolerant of their communities, many of whom opposed the revolution in 2011 and the subsequent 13-year civil war.
The Masnaa border point - the only operational crossing between Syria and Lebanon - has been inundated with huge queues of Syrians attempting to travel in both directions, with many hoping to return to a freed homeland after years of displacement in Lebanon.
Read the full report:
Thousands queue to flee Syria as ethnic minorities fear post-Assad future
Syria’s caretaker PM urges refugees to ‘come home’
Thursday 12 December 2024 14:37 , Alex CroftSyria’s caretaker prime minister Mohammed al-Bashir has urged all Syrians who fled president Bashar al-Assad’s brutal dictatorship to return and help “rebuild” the Arab nation.
“My appeal goes out to all Syrians abroad: Syria is now a free country that has regained its pride and dignity. Come back,” he told Corriere della Sera.
“We need to rebuild, to get our country on its feet again, and we need everyone’s help.”
At least 7.4 million Syrians remained internally displaced and nearly 4.9 million were seeking refuge in neighbouring countries, the UN said in a 2024 report.
ICYMI: France urges Israel to withdraw from buffer zone
Thursday 12 December 2024 14:19 , Alex CroftFrance has called on Israel to withdraw troops from the buffer zone between Israel and Syria which was captured by Benjamin Netanyahu’s forces swiftly after the fall of the Assad regime.
Mr Netanyahu said on Sunday he had ordered his ground forces to take control of the buffer zone established by a ceasefire agreement with Syria after armed rebel groups pushed out president Bashar al-Assad from Damascus and took power.
“Any military deployment in the separation zone between Israel and Syria is a violation of the disengagement agreement of 1974,” a French foreign ministry spokesperson said yesterday.
Israel’s move has been condemned by Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Russian security boss holds talks with China’s Xi Jinping
Thursday 12 December 2024 13:59 , Alex CroftDmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and former president of Russia, held talks with Chinese president Xi Jinping on Thursday.
The pair discussed the crises in both Ukraine and Syria, according to the TASS state news agency.
Austria may begin forced deportations of Syrians back to homeland - foreign minister
Thursday 12 December 2024 13:40 , Alex CroftAustria’s forced deportation of Syrian refugees back to their original homeland will only happen when it is safe, the foreign minister said.
Chancellor Karl Nehammer called for a reassessment of security in Syria to enable the return of refugees to their home country. Similar to many centre-right parties in Europe, the ruling People’s Party (OVP) is under pressure from the far-right.
Asked when the returns might happen, Alexander Schallenberg told Reuters that “when it is possible, we will do it immediately”. He added: "I don't know (when). Can you see into the future?"
Austria was the first of more than a dozen European countries to announce a suspension on processing Syrians’ asylum applications.
Comment | How can Putin be defeated? Assad’s fall provides lesson for West
Thursday 12 December 2024 13:20 , Alex CroftThe fall of the Assad regime in Syria has led to questions over Russia’s ability to sustain its military adventures abroad. Russia had supported Assad militarily for over a decade, building on long-standing ties between Moscow and Damascus. But the rapid advance of anti-government forces this month saw Russia apparently powerless to influence the situation beyond a number of airstrikes (as always, apparently mostly delivered on civilian targets) in support of government forces.
That has inevitably led people to draw conclusions about Russia’s ability to project power overseas, and what it may mean for the course of the war in Ukraine.
But hasty comparisons should be avoided. There is a world of difference between a distant operation in support of a friend of Moscow clinging to power and a major war on Russia’s own borders for territory which Vladimir Putin has declared should be Moscow’s to rule.
Keir Giles writes:
How can Putin be defeated? Assad’s fall provides lesson for West
Pictured: The American found in Syria after seven months in prison
Thursday 12 December 2024 13:00 , Alex CroftA picture has emerged of Travis Timmerman, the American who was detained in Syria for seven months.
Mr Timmerman was trying to make his own way out of Syria after being freed from prison after the lightning offensive which ousted the Bashar al-Assad regime on the weekend.
Russia-Turkey relations have not deteriorated due to Syria, Moscow says
Thursday 12 December 2024 12:44 , Alex CroftRussia’s deputy foreign minister said bilateral relations between Moscow and Ankara have not detariorated as a result of the Syrian civil war, according to the Interfax news agency.
“We are in dialogue with Turkey on all issues,” Alexander Grushko said.
Family of missing Austin Tice say they are ‘incredibly hopeful’ the US journalist will be found in Syria
Thursday 12 December 2024 12:28 , Alex CroftThe family of a US journalist who was captured in Syria more than a decade ago has said they are “incredibly hopeful” he will be returned.
Austin Tice was just 31 years old when he was captured close to Damascus in August 2012, while covering the Syrian civil war. It is believed he was taken by the Syrian government.
The complexity of the situation in Syria had made it difficult to know who had captured him or where he was being held, but after rebels ousted the Assad regime last week, the family had renewed hopes the journalist could be recovered.
Tom Watling reports:
Family of Austin Tice say they have new hope the journalist will be found in Syria
Residents return to devastated Syrian village after 13 years
Thursday 12 December 2024 12:00 , Alex CroftAmerican found alive after seven months in Syrian prison
Thursday 12 December 2024 11:43 , Alex CroftAn American who spent seven months in Syrian prison has been found be rebels searching the country.
Travis Timmerman was trying to make his own way out of Syria after being freed from prison after the lightning offensive which ousted the Bashar al-Assad regime on the weekend, CBS News reported.
Mr Timmerman, of Missouri, told CBS that he had entered Syria without permission for “spirirual purposes” before he was detained. On Monday, he was freed by two armed men with AK-47s.
Explainer | What is the Golan Heights and why is the territory so important to Israel and Syria?
Thursday 12 December 2024 11:26 , Alex CroftThe Golan Heights, situated in the southwest corner of Syria and bordering Israel, Lebanon and Jordan, is a 1,000 square mile rocky plateau around 40 miles (60 kilometres) from Damascus, although it possesses a significance far beyond that and has been a political flashpoint for decades.
Israeli has occupied the Golan Heights since the 1980s and now its troops have seized the demilitarised buffer zone, in response to the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal dictatorship in Syria.
Troops have also been deployed beyond the demilitarised buffer zone and into Syrian territory, with Israeli defence minister Israel Katz saying Israeli forces had been ordered to create a “sterile defence zone” in southern Syria, adding that they would not retain a permanent presence. Israel had previously described reports from Syrian sources that it had breached the buffer zone as “false”.
But what is the Golan Heights and why does Israel consider it so important?
What is the Golan Heights and why is it so important to Israel and Syria?
Gaza death toll nears 45,000
Thursday 12 December 2024 11:09 , Alex CroftThe number of Palestinians killed in Israel’s invasion and bombardment of Gaza is now at 44,835 since October 7, the Gaza health ministry said on Thursday.
The military offensive has also wounded 106,356, the statement added.
