bashar al assad

December 12, 2024 9:28 AM

Syria’s rebel leader vows to dissolve Assad regime security forces, close prisons

The main commander of the fighters who toppled Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday that he would dissolve the security forces of the former regime, close its prisons and hunt down anyone involved in the torture or killing of detainees. Syrian rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa - better known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani - said in a statement to Reuters he will "dissolve the security forces of the previous regime and close the notorious prisons." Syria ran one of the most oppressive police states in the M...

December 11, 2024 10:05 AM

Refugees return to Syria as caretaker prime minister appointed

Refugees from Syria's long civil war were making their way home on Wednesday, as a new interim prime minister said he had been appointed with the backing of the rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad. U.S. officials, engaging with rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), urged them not to assume automatic leadership of the country but instead run an inclusive process to form a transitional government. The new government must "uphold clear commitments to fully respect the rights of min...

December 10, 2024 10:46 AM

Syria’s rebels work to form government, restore order after Assad ouster

The lightning overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad left Syrians, countries in the region and world powers nervous on Tuesday about what comes next as the rebel alliance took its first steps in a government transition. The United Nations Security Council met behind closed doors late on Monday, and diplomats said they were still in shock at how quickly Assad's overthrow unfolded over 12 days, after a 13-year civil war that was locked in stalemate for years. "Everyone was taken by surprise,...

December 9, 2024 9:29 PM

Assad’s fall brings ‘the moment’ to rid Syria of chemical weapons

The downfall of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, found to have used chemical weapons against his own people on multiple occasions during the civil war, creates an opportunity to rid the country of banned munitions, diplomatic sources said on Monday. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said it was following the situation in Syria with "special attention" to chemical weapons-related sites and had reminded Syria, through its embassy, of its continued obligation to declare and d...

December 9, 2024 1:10 PM

Rebels capture Damascus, topple Assad regime after 54 years; President flees to Russia

On 27 November, the Syrian rebels launched a lighting offensive on President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. By the 29th, they had captured the city of Aleppo. And Hama a week later. On 8 December, Assad fled and Damascus fell, ending the 54-year rule of Assad and his late father Hafez al-Assad. The Islamist rebels led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham had never had it so good since a civil war erupted in Syria in the year 2011. Until the last week of November, the war in Syria had been mostly dormant fo...

December 9, 2024 9:14 AM

With Assad ousted, a new era starts in Syria as the world watches

Syrians awakened on Monday to a hopeful if uncertain future, after rebels seized the capital Damascus and President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia, ending a 13-year civil war and more than 50 years of his family's brutal rule. The lightning advance of a militia alliance spearheaded by Hayat al-Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaeda affiliate, marked one of the biggest turning points for the Middle East in generations. Assad's fall wiped out a bastion from which Iran and Russia exercis...