After toppling the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, rebel commander Abu Mohammed al-Jolani in a statement said, "there is no turning back" now and the group is determined to continue the path they started during the Arab spring.
"The future is ours," al-Jolani's statement read on Syria’s state TV said.
Syrians entered the Presidential Palace in Damascus on Sunday after the fall of Bashar Assad’s government. Assad and other top officials vanished, their whereabouts unknown. pic.twitter.com/mH3GYmebYS
— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) December 8, 2024
The leader of Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, al-Jolani, visited Damascus's landmark Umayyad Mosque after securing victory.
Amid tensions of Arab Spring reigniting, the Qatar foreign ministry said that Arab states will seek to avert the threat of another Syrian civil war by starting an open dialogue with all the forces on the ground to ensure any transition is inclusive of all Syrians regardless of ethnicity.
Syrian rebels in Damascus walking around Assad's presidential palace. An outcome that would have seemed impossible 10 days ago. Dictators fall quickly and unexpectedly. pic.twitter.com/aTgstPZSpv
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) December 8, 2024
Majed al-Ansari, Qatar’s foreign affairs ministry spokesperson expressed relief that there was only very limited fighting involved. "It makes it easier for international actors to go in and start engaging before any fighting might erupt amongst parties on the ground."
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“No one group, no one party or sect should feel unsafe or excluded in the future of Syria,” he added.
What is next for Syria?
Hadi al-Bahra, president of the Syrian National Coalition, Syria's main opposition abroad said the country should draft a constitution within six months, on which first election would be a referendum.
“The constitution will say, are we going to have a parliamentary system, presidential system, or mixed system? And based on this, we do the election and the people choose their leader,” al-Bahra said.
He said that Syria should have an 18-month transition period to establish "a safe, neutral, and quiet environment" for free elections.
Al-Bahra also added that he had asked the state employees to continue to report until the power transition and assured them that they would not be harmed.
Prisoners walk out of jail
After Bashar al-Assad's government collapsed, prisoners walked out of Syrian prisons with joy. Newly freed prisoners ran through the Damascus streets and reunited with their families.
Hundreds of people were placed in detention throughout the civil war that began in 2011. Families were often told nothing of their loved ones' fate.
The most notorious prisons in Damascus were finally opened in the early hours of Sunday after Syrian rebels seized the capital.
