Thousands of Syrians celebrate in central Damascus during first Friday prayers since Assad’s fall
DAMASCUS — Thousands of Syrians gathered Friday at Umayyad Square, the largest in Damascus, to celebrate after the first Muslim Friday prayers following the downfall of former President Bashar Assad.
Al-Sharaa’s force, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, and its allied insurgents have 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 the fall of the state that had long ruled with an iron hand and concerned over extremist jihadis among the insurgents.
The crowd included many families with children, and some of the demonstrators had come from far-flung areas of the country, including from Idlib — the longtime rebel enclave in the northwest of Syia, for years isolated on the other side of the civil war’s battle lines. Khaled Abu Chahine, 51, from Kafr Shams in the southern province of Daraa, where the 2011 uprising first erupted, said he hoped for “freedom and coexistence between all Syrians, Alawites, Sunnis, Shiites and Druze. No to racism.”
In the Turkish capital, Ankara, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday there was “broad agreement” between Turkey and the United States on what they would like to see in Syria. Blinken said it was imperative to continue with efforts to the keep the Islamic State group under control.