Sawt Falasteen - 'Friday of victory': Mass rallies across Syria celebrate end of Assad

More than half a century of brutal rule by the Assad clan came to a sudden end on Sunday, after a lightning rebel offensive swept across the country and took the capital.

Assad fled Syria, closing an era in which suspected dissidents were jailed or killed, and capping nearly 14 years of war that killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.

Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, head of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which spearheaded the offensive, called on Syrians "to go to the streets to express their joy" on Friday to mark "the victory of the blessed revolution".

During the early days of Syria's uprising in 2011, pro-democracy protesters used to give their Friday gatherings a different name every week. The latest rally was called the "Friday of victory".

Interim prime minister Mohammed al-Bashir addressed a large congregation at Damascus's landmark Umayyad Mosque.

Thousands flocked to the mosque, some raising the three-star Syrian independence flag which none dared wave in the capital during Assad's iron-fisted rule.

Exhilarated crowds chanted "the Syrian people is one!"

"I still feel like I'm dreaming," said 52-year-old Khalil Rimo.

"I still can't believe that I'm standing next to the Umayyad Mosque... and there are no government thugs" asking for ID, Rimo said.

"We are gathering because we're happy Syria has been freed, we're happy to have been liberated from the prison in which we lived," said Nour Thi al-Ghina, 38.

- 'Constructive' signals -

Thousands of people also gathered in the squares and streets in other Syrian cities, including Homs, Hama and Idlib.

There was a festive and relaxed atmosphere as hundreds rallied in the main square of Syria's second city Aleppo, a scene of fierce fighting during the country's civil war, AFP correspondents reported.

A huge billboard depicting Assad and his father Hafez was set on fire.

"The Assad father and son oppressed us, but we have liberated our country from injustice," a white-bearded policeman at the scene said.

In the southern city of Sweida, the heartland of Syria's Druze minority where anti-government demonstrations have been held for more than a year, hundreds took to the streets, singing and clapping in jubilation.

"Our joy is indescribable," said Haitham Hudeifa, 54. "Every province is celebrating this great victory."

Sunni Muslim HTS is rooted in Syria's branch of Al-Qaeda and designated a terrorist organisation by many Western governments, who now face the challenge of how to approach the country's new leadership.

The group has sought to moderate its rhetoric, and the interim government insists the rights of all Syrians will be protected -- as will the rule of law.

The United Nations refugee agency said on Friday that the new government had sent "constructive" initial signals, including asking the organisation to stay in the country.

Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries, who were due to meet virtually on Friday, said they were ready to support the transition to an "inclusive and non-sectarian" government in Syria.

They called for the protection of human rights, including those of women and minorities, while emphasising "the importance of holding the Assad regime accountable for its crimes".

- Disappeared -

Inside much of Syria, the focus is turning towards unravelling the secrets of Assad's rule, and particularly the network of detention centres and suspected torture sites scattered across areas previously under government control.

Syrians have flooded to prisons, hospitals and morgues in search of long-disappeared loved ones, hoping for a miracle, or at least closure.

"I turned the world upside down looking," Abu Mohammed told AFP as he searched for news of three missing relatives at the Mazzeh airbase in Damascus.

"But I didn't find anything at all. We just want a hint of where they were, one percent."

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it has documented over 35,000 cases of disappearances during Assad's rule, adding the true number was likely far higher.

Assad was propped up by Russia -- where a senior Russian official told US media he has fled -- as well as Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group.

The rebels launched their offensive on November 27, the same day a ceasefire took effect in the Israel-Hezbollah war, which saw Israel inflict staggering losses on Assad's Lebanese ally.

Both Israel and Turkey, which backs some of the rebels who ousted Assad, have since carried out strikes inside Syria.

- Israel ready to stay in buffer zone -

Speaking on Thursday in Jordan, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed the importance of "not sparking any additional conflicts" after mentioning both Israeli and Turkish military activity in Syria.

In an unannounced visit to Baghdad on Friday, Blinken said that "as Syria transitions from the Assad dictatorship to hopefully a democracy", it should "not become in any way a platform for terrorism".

Washington has troops in both Syria and Iraq as part of a coalition against the Islamic State group.

Hours after Assad's ouster, Israel sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, in a move the UN said violated a 1974 armistice.

Israeli troops have been ordered to "prepare to remain" in the buffer zone throughout the winter, Defence Minister Israel Katz's office said on Friday.

On Friday, the European Union announced the launch of an "air bridge" operation to deliver an initial 50 tonnes of health supplies to Syria via neighbouring Turkey.

L.AbuTayeh--SF-PST