Celebration of Syria’s liberation in Damascus, December 13, 2024

Who Is Syria’s New Prime Minister — and What Will He Do?

EA on Pakistan and UK Media: Is There Hope for the “New Syria”?

UPDATES: Syria’s New Government Faces Israel’s Attacks

EA on International Media: Syria After The Fall of Assad

UPDATE 1623 GMT:

The European Union has set conditions for lifting sanctions on Syria and accelerating aid.

At a meeting in Brussels, the EU’s high representative for foreign policy, Kaja Kallas, said the 27-nation bloc wants a “stable, peaceful and all-comprising government in place”. She said it will probably take weeks, if not months, for Syria’s new path to be clear.

Syria faces an optimistic, positive, but rather uncertain future, and we have to make sure that this goes to the right direction.

For us, it’s not only the words, but we want to see the deeds.

Kallas said senior German diplomat Michael Ohnmacht, on behalf of the European Union, has held initial talks with representatives of the new government.

“I announced earlier today that our top diplomat would go to Damascus, and he has been there now,” Kallas explained.

UPDATE 1408 GMT:

In a statement on Telegram, Bashar al-Assad said he was flown to Moscow from Russia’s Hmeimim base in western Syria on Sunday night amid drone attacks.

Assad said he left Damascus that morning as rebels closed in. He did not explain why he did not notify his ministers, military, or senior advisors.

He insisted that he had planned to keep fighting but the Russians evacuated him.

At no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge, nor was such a proposal made by any individual or party.

When the state falls into the hands of terrorism and the ability to make a meaningful contribution is lost, any position becomes void of purpose.

UPDATE 1118 GMT:

The UN envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, has called for an end to Western sanctions.

“We can hopefully see a quick end to the sanctions so that we can see really a rallying around building of Syria,” Pedersen told reporters in Damascus on Sunday.

He added after meeting officials of the new government, “We need to get the political process under way that is inclusive of all Syrians. That process obviously needs to be led by the Syrians themselves.”

UPDATE 1113 GMT:

Israel is continuing airstrikes on military sites in Syria, targeting the coastal Tartous region in the west of the country overnight.

The strikes reportedly were on air defense units and surface-to-surface missile depots.

Turkey has criticized the Netanyahu Government’s plan to double the Israeli population living in the occupied Golan Heights, “This decision is a new stage in Israel’s goal of expanding its borders through occupation.

The Foreign Ministry warned the plan would “seriously undermine” efforts to ensure stability in Syria.

Germany urged Israel to “abandon” the plan. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Christian Wagner said, “It is perfectly clear under international law that this area controlled by Israel belongs to Syria and that Israel is therefore an occupying power.”

He said that, in a “complex” situation, Israel had an interest to ensure that the Assad regime’s weapons “do not fall into the wrong hands”. However, “it is absolutely crucial now, in this phase of political upheaval in Syria, that all actors in the region take into account the territorial integrity of Syria and do not call it into question.”

UPDATE 1054 GMT:

A snapshot of the mass graves being found across areas of Syria which were controlled by the Assad regime:

UPDATE 1021 GMT:

Has Bashar al-Assad’s cousin Maj. Gen. Talal Makhlouf, of the elite Republican Guard, been apprehended by Syrian government forces?

Makhlouf is the nephew of Anisa Makhlouf, Assad’s mother.

Video purportedly shows a bloodied and handcuffed Makhlouf being dragged away. A civilian approaches the general and says, “Do you remember me?”, recalling how Makhlouf boasted to him about raping a female relative.

But Verify-sy says the detainee is not Makhlouf. Instead, cited a human rights activist in Latakia Province, it identifies him as Ibrahim al-Farran, a volunteer alongside Assad regime security forces.

Al-Farran is accused by activists in Jableh of participating in a mass killing of civilians in the village of al-Bayda in Baniyas Province on April 12, 2011.

UPDATE 0957 GMT:

Russia has withdrawn at least 400 troops from the Damascus area in recent days, transferring them to bases in western Syria.

Kamal Lababidi, a senior official in the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, said the withdrawal was coordinated with the new Syrian authorities. The Russians had been stationed at the headquarters of Assad regime army’s 4th Division in the suburb of Qudsaya. Military personnel at the Russian Embassy in Damascus were also transferred.

Video showed a Russian convoy of almost 100 military vehicles, including armoured personnel carriers, tractors, fuel trucks and mobile medical units.

Lababidi said negotiations are ongoing at the Four Seasons Hotel in Damascus about the evacuation of Russian troops from other parts of the country.

HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said in a newspaper interview published on Saturday, “The Russians tired of the crumbling Assad regime and the new leadership in Syria has given Russia an opportunity to build a new relationship.”

UPDATE 0947 GMT:

The Assad regime reportedly sent planes with $250 million in dollars and euros in cash to Russia.

Sources told the Financial Times that the money was moved from Syria’s Central Bank from March 2018 to September 2019, even as the country had “almost zero” foreign reserves.

Documents confirm that around two tons of $100 and €500 notes bills were flown to Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport.

Meanwhile, the Assad family secretly acquired assets in Russia, including luxury real estate. They bought at least 19 luxury apartments in the elite Moscow City district, worth a total of at least $40 million.

UPDATE 0846 GMT:

The leader of the Islamist faction Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has said, “The Kurds are part of the homeland and partners in the coming Syria.”

Al-Sharaa indicated support for the return of displaced to their homes Afrin in northwest Syria. The Kurds were evicted in an offensive by Turkish-backed rebels in early 2018.

The Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) responded on Sunday, “We appreciate the statements… and we welcome them and see them as positive and constructive.”

It added, “It is time for the Kurds to become partners in building Syria and ensuring their rights, and it is important for them to participate in the transitional phase to establish the new Syria.”

In a press conference in Raqqa in northern Syria, the Kurdish administration — facing the prospect of attacks by Turkish-backed factions — called for “a stop to military operations over the entire Syrian territory in order to begin a constructive, comprehensive national dialogue”.

The Syrian Democratic Council, made up of Kurdish and other groups, warned that the Tishreen Dam on the Euphrates River in northern Syria is at “serious risk of collapse”, as it called for an immediate halt to the “shelling by Turkey and the Syrian National Army”.

The SDC warned that lives and homes would be lost and millions of people would be left without electricity and water.

UPDATE, DEC 16:

Schools and universities have reopened in Damascus, eight days after liberation from the Assad regime.

Ali Allaham, the dean of Damascus University’s Arts Faculty, said 80% of staff and a “large number of students” have arrived on campus.

Petrol shortages are easing, with cars lining up at stations and residents buying plastic containers of fuel from street vendors.

Sunday church services were conducted as normal. In Bab Touma, a Christian part of the Old City of Damascus, restaurants and bars reopened.

Celebrations continued throughout the capital, including a gathering in the main courtyard of Damascus University.

Students stamped on a toppled statue of Bashar al-Assad’s father and predecessor Hafez, who seized power in 1971. People waved the three-star opposition flag, with slogans and songs dating to the start of the Syrian uprising in March 2011.

UPDATE 1745 GMT:

Freed from the threat of the Assad regime, survivors continue to give accounts of its chemical attacks.

Hamad Shukri, now 16, was 10 when the regime’s helicopters dropped chlorine on Douma near Damascus in April 2018. He was photographed cradling his distressed baby brother, holding an oxygen mask to the infant’s face in a makeshift hospital that treated around 100 survivors struggling to breathe.

I remember it very well because there was no explosion, only gas. The adults were throwing water on everyone to try and wash the chemical off.

I didn’t understand what was happening. I just knew that people were dead.

The Assad regime’s defenders denying the attack, such as Aaron Maté of the propaganda outlet The Grayzone, have portrayed Shukri as a crisis actor in a staged scene in the hospital.

Tawfiq Diab, 79, lost his wife Hanan and his four children, aged between eight and 12. Barely surviving, he did not know that his family — including a brother and sister-in-law and their seven children, an uncle, and 30 neighbous – had been killed until he regained consciousness in hospital 10 days later.

After I was awake I started asking questions but police came and told me, “Don’t ask about them.”

I was arrested and spent a week at the police station. They told me, “We will cut off your tongue.”

We were silenced against our will….Now we can talk.

Abdulhadi Sariel, 64, lived on the opposite side of the street from where the chlorine cylinders landed. His family survived because they stayed on a higher floor.

No one in that basement came out alive. Their bodies turned to black, their clothes went green and were burnt, they crumbled and stuck to their bodies. The clothes looked like wood.

Sariel was also threatened: “The commanders said ‘if you say a word other than what we tell you, we will kill you’. But I always kept the curtains [as evidence] for this moment, when the truth would come out.”

UPDATE 1656 GMT:

Israel’s Netanyahu Government is expanding its area of control in southwest Syria.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he approved a plan to expand the building of settlements in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

“Strengthening the Golan is strengthening the state of Israel, and it is especially important at this time,” Netanyahu declared. “We will continue to hold on to it, cause it to blossom and settle in it.”

Earlier this week, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israeli will remain for the winter on Mount Hermon in positions they occupied last week.

Meanwhile, Israel struck dozens of sites in Syria overnight.

The remains of the Assad regime’s fleet, hit by Israel in the Latakia region on the Mediterranean last week.

The leader of Syria’s Islamist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, Ahmed al-Sharaa said, “There are no excuses for any foreign intervention in Syria now after the Iranians have left. We are not in the process of engaging in a conflict with Israel.”

He explained that “diplomatic solutions” were the only way to ensure stability rather than “ill-considered military adventures”.

Israeli arguments have become weak and no longer justify their recent violations. The Israelis have clearly crossed the lines of engagement in Syria, which poses a threat of unwarranted escalation in the region.

Syria’s war-weary condition, after years of conflict and war, does not allow for new confrontations. The priority at this stage is reconstruction and stability, not being drawn into disputes that could lead to further destruction.

UPDATE 1355 GMT:

The UN envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, told reporters during a visit to Damascus, “We can hopefully see a quick end to the sanctions so that we can see really a rallying around building of Syria.”

UPDATE 0735 GMT:

Family members of detainees in Idlib Province in northwest Syria demonstrated in Aleppo city on Saturday.

The detainees are held by the Islamist faction Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, the leading group for years in administration of the opposition-held part of Idlib.

Syrian civil society activist Rami Jarrah comments:

[HTS head Abu Mohammed al-] Jolani must address the issue immediately, as it contradicts reassurances he has made to Syrians.

Clarity on this topic to the Syrian people will demonstrate a seriousness by Jolani to set the country on a positive trajectory that is both transparent and lawful.

UPDATE 0724 GMT:

Turkey has joined some Middle Eastern governments and Italy in the reopening of its embassy in Damascus.

A Qatari delegation is meeting officials of Syria’s transitional government on Sunday to discuss aid and the reopening of Qatar’s embassy.

UPDATE, DEC 15:

The Biden Administration has made “direct contact” with the Islamist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, a leading faction in the liberation of Syria and the overthrow of the Assad regime.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed the contact as he and diplomats from other countries met in Aqaba, Jordan, on Saturday: “We’ve been in contact with HTS and with other parties.”

The US has designated HTS as a “terrorist” organiation because of its links with Al Qa’eda, which were cut in 2016.

In a joint statement after the Aqaba meeting in Jordan, the US, Turkey, Arab countries, and the European Union “affirmed the full support to the Syrian people at this critical point in their history to build a more hopeful, secure and peaceful future”.

They called for a Syrian-led transition to “produce an inclusive, non-sectarian and representative government formed through a transparent process”, with respect for human rights.

“Syria finally has the chance to end decades of isolation,” the joint statement said.

UPDATE 1445 GMT:

A snapshot from the Assad regime’s detention centers:

UPDATE 1301 GMT:

Claims are circulating of 150 mass graves, with the bodies of 75,000 detainees, in the Al-Hussainiya area of Damascus Province.

The bodies are buried in batches in holes which are 20 meters (66 feet) deep.

UPDATE 1220 GMT:

Satellite imagery indicates Russia is scaling back its military presence in Syria.

Two AN-124 heavy military transport planes have been located at the Hmeimim airbase in Latakia on the Mediterranean coast. Their nose cones were lifted in preparation to load cargo. A Ka-52 attack helicopter was being dismantled, and components of an S-400 air defense system were being packed up.

Images from the Tartous naval base on the Mediterranean show minimal changes. Photos earlier in the week showed two Russian frigates stationed off the coast, with no major activity suggesting an immediate departure.

Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, posted:

He added, “Still unclear if this is a complete exit. There are indications and rumors to that effect, but best to wait for the evidence.”

UPDATE 1206 GMT:

More scenes from Friday’s celebrations across Syria….

In Aleppo, as a huge billboard of Bashar al-Assad and his father and predecessor Hafez was set on fire, a policeman said, “The Assad father and son oppressed us, but we have liberated our country from injustice.

Ahmad Abd al-Majed, 39, an engineer who returned to Aleppo from Turkey, said many were shedding “tears of joy and happiness”.

“Syrians deserve to be happy,” he noted.

In the mainly-Druze city of Suweida in southern Syria, Bayan al-Hinnawi, 77, said after spending 17 years in prison, “It’s a wonderful sight. Nobody could have imagined that this could happen.”

ORIGINAL ENTRY, DEC 14: Hundreds of thousands of Syrians rallied across the country on Friday to celebrate liberation from the Assad regime five days earlier.

People marched through the streets following Friday Prayers. They sang Janna — the anthem of the late Abdul Baset al-Sarout, slain in battle during the uprising — “Paradise, Our Nation is Paradise”. They chanted, “One, one, one, the Syrian people are one!”

The scene in Hama:

In Damascus, Nour Thi al-Ghina, 38, said, “We are gathering because we’re happy Syria has been freed. We’re happy to have been liberated from the prison in which we lived.”

Mohammed Shobek, 30, a fighter in the final offensive, echoed:

We’ve finished the war in Syria and started praying for peace. We started carrying flowers. We started building this country and building it hand in hand.

Amani Zanhur, 42, a professor of computer engineering, said, “There can be nothing worse than what was. We cannot fear the situation.” Amina Maarawi, 42, urged, “Let’s not discuss details that might separate us now and focus only on what brings us together: our hatred for Bashar al-Assad.”

“We Are Not Sectarian in Syria”

Before Friday Prayers, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the Islamist group, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham called on Syrians to mark the occasion. He traded in his military uniform for civilian clothes.

A senior officer in the new Syrian military, Ahmed al-Dalati, told worshippers outside a mosque in a village in Damascus Province that Syria must be united with all Syrians of different sects, not just the Sunnis, participating in political revival.

“We are not sectarian in Syria,” he said.