Watch live: Damascus mosque sees first Friday prayers after Assad regime toppled

WorldPolitics
13 Dec 2024 • 5:47 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

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Watch live as Damascus residents pray at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on the first Friday (13 December) after rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Syrians are celebrating the demise of Assad’s government after 13 years of civil war sparked by the president’s violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters following the Arab Spring.

A rebel coalition took control of the capital Damascus in a lightning offensive overnight on Sunday, 11 days after launching a major operation.

Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed the end of Assad’s “barbaric regime.”

Russia, a close ally that has propped up the regime for years, said Assad left the country after negotiations with rebel groups and had given instructions to transfer power peacefully.

Mohammed al-Bashir has been named as the country’s interim leader and tasked with ushering in a stable government.

In a brief address on state television on Tuesday, he announced that representatives of the rebels and the ousted government had agreed for him to act as caretaker until 1 March.

"Today we held a cabinet meeting that included a team from the Salvation government that was working in Idlib and its vicinity, and the government of the ousted regime," he said.