People gather to celebrate the opposition takeover of Damascus, following the Friday prayers, at Umayyad Square in Damascus, Syria. Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham leader Abu Mohammad Al-Jolani called on people across the country to celebrate ‘the victory of the revolution after the capture of Damascus and the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad on Sunday. Photo by Mohammed al Rifai/EPA-EFE
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Dec. 13 (UPI) — The squares and streets of Damascus and other major cities were crowded Friday with cheering Syrians, who flocked in large numbers to celebrate the victory of their revolution that led to the ouster of President Bashar Assad after nearly 14 years of a bloody war.
Tens of thousands gathered at the Umayyad Mosque for the first Friday prayers since opposition forces, headed by the Islamist “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, captured Damascus last Sunday, forcing Assad to flee and seek refuge in Russia.
It took the rebels 11 days to take control of most of the country after they launched large-scale, lightning attacks, seizing the main cities of Aleppo, Hama and Homs.
Friday’s gatherings came in response to a call by the rebel leader Ahmad Sharaa, better known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammad al Jolani, to celebrate “the victory of the blessed revolution” and express “their joy,” but without “firing bullets in the air and terrorizing people.”
“Then, after that, let us move on to building the country,” Sharaa said in a videotaped speech during which he appeared for the first time in civilian clothes. “As we said from the beginning, we are victorious with God’s help.”
A huge crowd crammed the Umayyad mosque, where new caretaker Prime Minister Mohammad al Bashir headed the Friday prayers.
People in the streets were seen shouting for freedom and justice and dancing while waving the Syrian Revolution flag, now adopted as the country’s new official flag.
The same scene was repeated in almost every main city in the country, except the areas controlled by the Kurdish forces in northeastern Qamishli, Hasakah and Riqqa provinces.
In an interview with Al Jazeera TV station, Sharaa said the notorious Sednaya prison, in which thousands of detainees were held and tortured for many years, “symbolizes the brutality and cruelty of the Assad regime. “
“That is why we are collecting evidence from this place to try Assad,” he said, referring to ongoing efforts to identify those who tortured or executed the prisoners to prosecute them.
Sharaa said human rights organizations and independent civil society organizations will be invited to visit the Sednaya prison, on the outskirts of Damascus, so that “the whole world witnesses this horrific place and the injustice that took place there.”
The fall of Assad revealed a shocking reality about tens of thousands of detainees when rebel forces stormed his regime-run jails in Damascus and other Syrian regions and freed them.
However, a great number of them,