Thousands of Syrians gathered Friday in Damascus’ historic main mosque for the first Friday prayers since the downfall of former President Bashar Assad, while giant crowds celebrated in the capital’s largest square, reports AP.
The gatherings were a major symbolic moment for the dramatic change of power in Syria, nearly a week after insurgents swept into Damascus, ousting the Assad-led state that had ruled the country for a half century with an iron grip. It came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with allies around the region looking to shape the transition, calling for an “inclusive and non-sectarian” interim government.
After talks in Jordan and Turkey — which backs some of the insurgent factions — Blinken arrived in Iraq on a previously unannounced stop. So far, U.S. officials have not talked of direct meetings with Syria’s new rulers.
The main insurgent force, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has been working to establish security and start a political transition after seizing the capital early Sunday. At the same time, they have tried to reassure a public that is both stunned by Assad’s fall and concerned over extremist jihadis among the rebel ranks. The insurgents’ leadership says it has broken with its extremist past, though HTS is still labeled a terrorist group by the United States and European countries.
The group’s leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, appeared in a video message Friday congratulating “the great Syrian people for the victory of the blessed revolution.”
“I invite them to head to the squares to show their happiness without shooting bullets and scaring people,” he said. “And then after we will work to build this country and as I said in the beginning, we will be victorious by the help of God.”
Huge crowds, including some insurgent fighters, packed Damascus’ historic Umayyad Mosque in the capital’s old city for Friday prayers, many of them waving the rebel opposition flag — with its three red stars — which has swiftly replaced the Assad-era flag with with its two green stars. According to Arab TV stations, the Friday sermon was delivered by Mohammed al-Bashir, the interim prime minister installed by HTS this week.
The scene resonated on multiple levels. The mosque, one of the world’s oldest dating back some 1,200 years, is a beloved symbol of Syria, and sermons there like all mosque sermons across Syria had been tightly controlled under Assad’s rule. Also, in the early days of the anti-government uprising in 2011, protesters would often emerge from Friday prayers to march in rallies against Assad — before he launched a brutal crackdown that turned the uprising into a long and bloody civil war.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
