Syrians in Turkey, Lebanon celebrate as Assad's government falls
A large crowd celebrated the fall of the Assad’s government in Istanbul on Sunday with dancing, chanting and waving flags used by Syria's opposition.
More than three million Syrians live in Turkey, with many of them saying they could never return to their towns and villages while Assad remained in power.
Syrians living in Turkey celebrate with opposition flags after Syrian rebels announced that they have ousted President Bashar al-Assad, in front of the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, December 8, 2024.
A similar gathering was held in Tripoli, northern Lebanon.
People gesture as a man holds the Syrian opposition flag, after Syrian rebels announced that they have ousted President Bashar al-Assad, in Tripoli, northern Lebanon December 8, 2024.People gather as they celebrate, after Syrian rebels announced that they have ousted President Bashar al-Assad, in Tripoli, northern Lebanon December 8, 2024.
US President-elect Donald Trump said Sunday that Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now with Moscow strained by the war in Ukraine and economic woes while Tehran grapples with Israel's military in the region.
“Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, the other because of Israel and its fighting success,” he said.
Syrian state institutions will be supervised by former Prime Minister Mohammed Jalali until they are handed over, rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani said on Sunday.
The move is part of efforts to secure an orderly transition after rebels declared an end to Bashar al-Assad's rule.
Signed in his real name - Ahmed al-Sharaa - Golani's statement banned military forces in Damascus from approaching public bodies and banned the firing of guns in the air.
In an interview with Al Arabiya Sunday, Jalali -- appointed prime minister by Assad in September -- said he had been in contact with Sharaa to discuss the current transitional period. He said that Syria should Syria should hold free elections.
Jalali said he remained in his home and was ready to support continuity of governance.
Syrian telecommunications minister Eyad al-Khatib told Al Arabiya that he had been contacted by a representative of Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham responsible for telecoms services. They agreed that telecoms and internet would continue to function, Khatib said.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's rule has ended, the country's army command announced early Sunday, with Syrian prime minister expressing readiness to hand over the government to the opposition forces who ousted Assad in a lightning offensive.
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said he would not leave Syria and was ready to hand over power to the rebels.
"We are ready to cooperate with whoever the people choose," he said in a pre-recorded video from his home, shortly after rebels entered Damascus and announced that the capital was "now free of Assad".
The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based opposition war monitor, said early Sunday that Assad left the country for an undisclosed location.
Syria's army command told officers that Assad's rule has ended, according to Reuters.
Thousands of Syrian people congregated at a main square in Damascus in cars and on foot, waving and chanting "Freedom" from the 50-year Assad family rule.
"We celebrate with the Syrian people the news of freeing our prisoners and releasing their chains and announcing the end of the era of injustice in Sednaya prison," the rebels said.
The Syrian government had detained thousands of people in Sednaya, a large military prison on the outskirts Damascus.
"All Syrians are saying that liberating Sednaya's prison is more significant than destroying Berlin's wall. Years of fear, torture, death, and subjugation will end tonight," one user wrote on X hours before the end of Assad's rule.
A senior advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei met Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Friday, an Iranian lawmaker confirmed, amid reports that the Syrian president is desperately reaching out to his friends and foes to secure his grip on authority.
Ali Larijani, the senior Iranian politician who visited Syria last month as Khamenei's special envoy, travelled to Damascus and met Assad to express Tehran's full support for him, according to Iranian MP Yaghoub Rezazadeh and the state-run Al-Alam TV.
The meeting was held as rebels have captured several cities in the country's north, east and south including Homs, Hama, Aleppo, Deraa, and Deir ez-Zor. Opposition activists and a rebel commander said on Saturday that the armed rebels have reached the suburbs of Damascus
The insurgents were active in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya, said Rami Abdurrahman, the head of UK-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Biden administration officials, watching the astonishing speed of the Syrian rebels' advance, increasingly see the possibility of Assad's government falling within days, CNN reported Saturday citing five US officials.
The advances come amid signs of reduced support for Assad from his key allies. Iranian-backed forces and the Syrian army have reportedly withdrawn from several positions, and there is little indication that Tehran is prepared to commit substantial forces to defend Assad.
Iran began to evacuate its military commanders and personnel including senior Quds Force commanders from Syria on Friday, New York Times reported, citing regional officials and three Iranian officials.
While the Syrian government insists that Assad is still in Damascus, CNN reported on Saturday that the Syrian president is not at any of the locations in Damascus where he is expected to be. "Assad’s Presidential Guard are no longer deployed at his usual place of residence, as they would be if he was there," the report said, citing informed sources.
Overture to Trump at the eleventh hour
Syria's longtime ruler is making a last-ditch attempt to remain in power, including indirect diplomatic overtures to the US and President-elect Donald Trump, Bloomberg reported on Saturday, citing people with direct knowledge of the situation.
He has told the US via the United Arab Emirates that he is ready to cut all involvement with Iran-backed militant groups, such as Hezbollah, should Western powers wield influence to stem the fighting.
In another initiative, Assad has dispatched a senior Christian leader to meet Hungarian President Viktor Orban, an ally of Trump, to relay what he sees as an existential threat to Syria’s Christian minority if Islamist rebels prevail.
"The intention was that Orban, a Trump ally, would convey this danger to the incoming US president," the Bloomberg report said, citing sources.
Earlier in the day, Trump said the US should not get involved in the conflict in Syria, as it is not the US' fight.
"Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social account.
