Archie Bland

This morning our First Edition newsletter poses the question what next for Syria. My colleague Archie Bland writes:

However jubilant Syrians are today about the end of a dark chapter of their history, they know that the next is yet to be written. Because of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s (HTS) past relationship with al-Qaida and the human rights abuses carried out in the areas that it has ruled, many are sceptical that it will act as the guarantor of a transition to a pluralist and democratic state. And HTS chief Abu Mohammed al-Jolani himself is viewed as a terrorist by the US and others.

But some say there are reasons to be hopeful. Dareen Khalifa, a Syria expert at Crisis Group, wrote on X last week that HTS leadership had told her they were considering dissolving the group “to enable full consolidation of civilian and military structures in new institutions reflecting the breadth of Syrian society”.

Fears of reprisals came through clearly in coverage from the historically pro-government al-Watan newspaper, which hailed “a new page for Syria” and said the media should not be blamed because it “only carried out instructions”.

But on Sunday, in what appeared to be coordinated statements, Syria’s prime minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said that he was at his home and promised to cooperate with “any leadership chosen by the Syrian people”, while rebel leaders said that public institutions remained under the supervision of the “former prime minister”. Jolani, meanwhile, said that his fighters should not harm “those who drop their weapons” and assured women and Christians that he does not intend to impose strict Islamic law.

Whether HTS maintains that approach or is able to prevail on other factions to do the same “remains to be seen,” Khalifa wrote. “Given their history and jihadist roots, they will face a huge challenge in addressing the understandable concerns of many Syrians.”

Read more here: Monday briefing – How the decade-long war in Syria ended almost overnight

Grappling with the rapidly evolving geopolitical dynamic in the Middle East?

The Guardian’s Bethan McKernan has this analysis on how Hezbollah’s war with Israel left the Assad regime fatally exposed.

“It was not a coincidence that the Syrian group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) began its push for the city of Aleppo on the same day that Israel and Hezbollah agreed a ceasefire to end the fighting in Lebanon,” she writes.

“The domino effect set in motion by Hamas on 7 October 2023 is still rippling through the Middle East, this weekend resulting in the spectacular downfall of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad.”

Full analysis here:

Assad’s palace burned and looted in the hours after he fled the country. Below is a photo gallery of how it unfolded, chandeliers and all.

A compelling dispatch from the Guardian’s Ruth Michaelson on the dreams of Syrian exiles who have been longing to return home.

“The Kawases have lived just two hours from Aleppo in the Turkish city of Gaziantep for almost a decade, only able to visit their home town in their dreams. And even then, said Haleem, these were always punctuated with memories of being chased through the streets by Assad’s security forces as they did during those early protests.

Thoughts of returning were also a distant dream until they saw pictures of insurgents approaching the edge of Aleppo. Change was coming, they decided.”

Read the full story here:

The UN security council is expected to convene for an emergency meeting on Syria today, a day after the country’s deposed leader fled the country and was granted asylum on “humanitarian grounds” in Russia.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group that led the offensive in Syria is still designated as a terrorist group by the US, Turkey and the United Nations.

Amid the rapid insurgency that has swept through Syria and led to toppling of president Assad, tens of thousands of people held in prisons in the country have been freed, reports the Associated Press.

Among those released as rebels forces gained control was prisoner Bashar Barhoum, a 63-year-old writer who was due to be executed on Sunday.

Instead, writes the Associates Press, he walked into the Damascus sunshine.

“I haven’t seen the sun until today,” he said after walking in disbelief through the streets of Damascus. “Instead of being dead tomorrow, thank God, he gave me a new lease of life.”

Videos shared widely across social media showed dozens of prisoners running in celebration after the insurgents released them, some barefoot and others wearing little clothing. One of them screaming in celebration after he learned the government had fallen.

Syria’s prisons have been infamous for their harsh conditions. Torture is systematic, say human rights groups, whistleblowers, and former detainees. Secret executions have been reported at more than two dozen facilities run by Syrian intelligence, as well as at other sites.

As the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad fell, the doors of the country’s notorious prisons have opened, including those of Sednaya, a facility described as a “human slaughterhouse”.

Across the country prisoners, bewildered and exultant, have poured out of their cells.

But it’s not clear if all detainees are free.

Since the beginning of the crisis in Syria in 2011, Sednaya prison, which is about 30 kilometres from the capital, had become the final destination for both peaceful opponents of the authorities as well as military personnel suspected of opposing the regime.

On Monday Syria’s White Helmets civil defence forces said they were investigating claims of “hidden underground cells” in the prison that, according to accounts from survivors, could be holding further detainees.

The White Helmets said they had deployed five specialised emergency teams, consisting of search and rescue units, wall-breaching specialists, iron door-opening crews, trained dog units, and medical responders, the group said in a post on X.