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Beirut, Dec 9 (AP) Syrians poured into streets in celebration on Sunday after a stunning rebel advance reached the capital, ending the Assad family's 50 years of iron rule.
Russian state news agencies were reporting that President Bashar Assad and his family had arrived in Moscow and were given asylum. Russia said Assad left the country after negotiations with rebel groups and that he had given instructions to transfer power peacefully.
Joyful crowds gathered in central squares in Damascus, waving the Syrian revolutionary flag. Others ransacked the presidential palace and residence.
Abu Mohammed al-Golani, a former al-Qaida commander who cut ties with the group years ago leads the biggest rebel faction in Syria and is poised to chart the country's future.
He made his first public appearance since fighters entered the Damascus suburbs Saturday, at the capital's sprawling Umayyad Mosque, and called himself by his given name, Ahmad al-Sharaa. He said Assad's fall was “a victory to the Islamic nation”.
The rapidly developing events have shaken the region. Lebanon said it was closing all its land border crossings with Syria except for one that links Beirut with Damascus.
Jordan closed a border crossing with Syria, too. Israel has issued warnings to villages in southern Syria and its forces seized a buffer zone in the Golan Heights.
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BEIRUT - The leader of the largest insurgent group in Syria visited the Syrian capital's sprawling Umayyad Mosque and declared that the victory against President Bashar Assad “is a victory to the Islamic nation”.
Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, made his first public appearance and remarks since fighters entered Damascus. He told hundreds of people at the historic mosque that Assad had made Syria “a farm for Iran's greed”.
He added that Assad made Syria a base for the illegal amphetamine Captagon that brought cash to Assad's circles.
Al-Sharaa, the leader of the jihadi Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, said on Sunday that the victory was achieved because of “God and the blood of martyrs”.
He said that he left Syria 20 years ago and since then his heart has longed for this movement.
Many Jordanian people welcome the fall of Assad's regime
AMMAN — The vast majority of the Jordanian people are welcoming the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime and the success of the Syrian revolution.
“There is no doubt that I felt overwhelming joy at the fall of the Assad regime," said Badi Al-Rafaia, Engineer, union activist and member of the Islamic Action Front.
"There is no doubt that we are happy with what happened in Syria, happy with the success of the revolution, happy with the Syrian people getting rid of an oppressor and criminal who treated the Syrian people and made the Syrian state a failed state.”
Al-Rafaia said that Jordan is benefiting from what happened in Syria, and "we hope that Jordan will help the revolution succeed and not work against it”.
Amman resident Muhab al-Majali said the fall of the Assad regime is “The end of every unjust and tyrannical rule, and more than that, it mortgaged the country and its people to the Iranians, who abandoned it in minutes... I believe that the future is beautiful and prosperous for the Syrians.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross calls for safe humanitarian access and protection of civilians in Syria
BERLIN — The International Committee of the Red Cross is calling for safe humanitarian access and protection of civilians in Syria after the fall of Bashir Assad's government.
“Our teams in Syria, including in Damascus, have been closely monitoring the fast-evolving security and humanitarian situation in coordination with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent,” the ICRC's head of delegation in Syria, Stephan Sakalian, said in a written statement on Sunday.
The ICRC is “responding wherever possible, with further efforts underway, as hundreds of thousands of people need care and humanitarian assistance”, he said.
Sakalian called “on all parties to urgently enable safe and unhindered access for medical and humanitarian workers to reach those in need, to protect civilians, and to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law".
Iraqi government supports efforts seeking to open a dialogue for Syria's future
BAGHDAD — The Iraqi government said in a statement Sunday that it “supports all international and regional efforts seeking to open a dialogue” for Syria “leading to the adoption of a pluralistic constitution that preserves the human and civil rights of Syrians, and supports cultural, ethnic and religious diversity”.
The statement from government spokesperson Bassem al-Awadi, said that Iraq understands “the necessity of respecting the free will of all Syrians, and stresses that the security of Syria, the unity of its territories, and the preservation of its independence are of utmost importance, not only for Iraq but also for its connection to the security and stability of the region”.
It cautioned against “interfering in Syria's internal affairs, or supporting one party for the benefit of another”.
Iraq, which has a close relationship with Iran - once a strong ally of former Syrian President Bashar Assad - has taken in some 2,000 Syrian army soldiers who fled the country amid the advance of armed opposition groups.
Yemen's leader welcomes the fall of Syria's government
CAIRO — The head of Yemen's internationally recognised government welcomed the fall of the government of President Bashar Assad of Syria.
“It's a historic moment,” Rashad al-Alimi, who chairs the ruling presidential council, wrote on X platform of Assad's downfall. “It's time for the Iranian regime to stop meddling in Yemen, respect its sovereignty and identity.”
Al-Alimi, who is backed by Saudi Arabia, was referring to Iran's support of Houthi rebels who are at war with Yemen's internationally recognised government for a decade.
Families wander through the presidential palace in Damascus, taking picture
DAMASCUS — Families wandered through the high-ceilinged halls of the presidential palace in Damascus on Sunday, along with some armed men. Some paused to take family portraits or selfies on the few remaining couches against the backdrop of mosaiced walls, while others walked out with chairs and other items under their arms. On the massive parking lot out front, cars drove in circles honking ecstatically.
In central Damascus' Umayyad Square, drivers passing by also honked jubilantly, while young men piled onto a tank abandoned in the square.
But for some the celebration was bittersweet.
“I am very happy, but this happiness will not be completed until I can see my son out of the prison and know where is he is,” said Damascus resident Bassam Masr. “I have been searching for him for two hours - he has been detained for 13 years.”
Netanyahu says Israeli forces have seized a buffer zone in the Golan Heights after Syrian unrest
TEL AVIV – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israeli forces have seized a buffer zone in the Golan Heights established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria.
He spoke from an overlook near the border between Syria and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, after Syrian rebels tore through the country and dramatically ended Assad's rule on Sunday morning.
Netanyahu said the 50-year-old agreement had collapsed and that Syrian troops had abandoned their positions, necessitating the Israeli takeover as a “temporary defensive position”.
Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it. The international community, except for the United States, views it as occupied Syrian territory.
Satellite images analyzed by the Associated Press show that as early as September, Israel began construction of what could possibly be a new road right along the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria. The United Nations confirmed that Israeli troops entered the demilitarised zone during the work.
The United Nations maintains a peacekeeping force in the demilitarised zone called the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, or UNDOF, with around 1,100 peacekeepers from Fiji, India, Kazakhstan, Nepal, and Uruguay. After the 1973 Mideast war, the UN Secretary Council voted to create UNDOF to patrol a roughly 400 square kilometer (155 square mile) demilitarized zone and maintain the peace there.
Airstrikes reported in the area of the Mezzeh military airport
DAMASCUS — An Associated Press journalist in Damascus reported airstrikes in the area of the Mezzeh military airport, southwest of the capital on Sunday.
The airport has previously been targeted in Israeli airstrikes, but it was not immediately clear who launched Sunday's strike.
The Israeli military refused to comment on the airport strike.
Israel often does not publicly claim responsibility for attacks in Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, reported that Israeli warplanes also targeted warehouses belonging to the Syrian army's Fourth Division and another former military site outside of Damascus on Sunday.
On Saturday and Sunday, the Israeli military sent additional troops to the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights to bolster Israel's presence along the border between Israel and Syria. Agricultural areas along the border were declared closed military zones and some schools shifted to online classes in anticipation of unrest. (AP)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)