Syrian rebels burn coffin of Assad’s father
In symbolic moment for newly liberated country, fighters invade mausoleum dedicated to leader who began half a century of brutal rule
11 December 2024 6:57pm GMT
Rebel fighters surround the burning coffin of Hafez al-Assad, who ruled Syria for 29 years Credit: Aaref Watad/AFP via Getty Images
Rebel fighters have set fire to the coffin of Bashar al-Assad’s father in a symbolic moment for Syria as it grapples with what shape the country will take next.
Pictures and videos showed men circling the burning remains in the marble-clad mausoleum that was the last resting place of Hafez al-Assad, who ruled Syria for 29 years.
Other fighters dressed in military fatigues posed holding the flag of the revolution over the charred remnants inside the mausoleum in the village of Qardaha, the Assad family’s ancestral home.
Stepping on Hafez’s coffin, which was later dragged into a car park, one fighter declared it was “revenge for my killed cousins”.
Fighters raise the flag of the Syrian revolution over the remains of the coffin of Hafez al-Assad Credit: Aaref Watad/AFP via Getty Images
Another video showed a giant statue of Hafez being shot at with an anti-aircraft gun.
The former air force pilot took power in a military coup in 1971, beginning more than half a century of brutal and bloody rule under the house of Assad.
That came to an end when a rebel coalition toppled Bashar al-Assad’s governmentover the weekend, sparking huge celebrations across the country as well as sorrow as stark evidence of decades of atrocities came to light.
In Damascus on Wednesday, families searched for clues to loved ones’ fates, trying to identify disfigured bodies found in a hospital morgue at the notorious Sednaya prison, where torture and mass executions were common.
Jolani vows punishment
Dozens of blackened, decomposing corpses, some with missing limbs or heads, were found overnight by rescuers digging for hidden cells.
Mohammed al-Jolani, the leader of the chief rebel faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), vowed on Wednesday to punish those responsible.
Although an amnesty has been announced for all regime conscripts, Jolani said that those who were involved in torturing and killing detainees in Syrian prisons will not be pardoned, and asked neighbouring countries to hand over those who fled.
The international community is now watching as HTS, a former al-Qaeda affiliate, and a transitional government, begin the task of rebuilding a new Syria from the ashes of the Assad regime.
In his first interview, Mohammed al-Bashir, the interim prime minister, called for the millions of Syrian refugees around the world to return home.
“My appeal goes out to all Syrians abroad: Syria is now a free country that has regained its pride and dignity. Come back. We need to rebuild, to get our country on its feet again, and we need everyone’s help,” he told Corriere Della Sera, the Italian newspaper.
He added that his other top priorities were restoring security and stability so people can “return and resume their normal lives”, and “strategic planning” to provide basic services.
Finance is among biggest challenges
Mr Bashir, who has been appointed to run the country until March 1, also echoed pledges made by Jolani that the new regime would guarantee the “rights of all people and communities in Syria”.
But key questions include whether they can avert revenge attacks following the bitter civil war and decades of repression often based on sectarian and ethnic lines.
Mr Bashir added that one of the biggest challenges the new government faces is Syria’s limited finances.
“In the vaults, there are only Syrian pounds worth little or nothing. One US dollar buys 35,000 of our coins,” Mr Bashir said. “We have no foreign currency and as for loans and bonds, we are still collecting data. So yes, financially we are very bad.”
Two US congressmen have urged senior officials in Washington to suspend some economic sanctions on Syria to ease pressure on its shattered economy, while the UK suggested it was also rethinking its designation of HTS as a terrorist group.
In apparent signs that HTS is keen to de-escalate, Jolani met with the leaders of other southern rebel groups on Wednesday, a move considered key to avoiding future tensions.
3:32pm
All religious groups’ rights will be ‘guaranteed’, says new Syria PM
Syria’s new prime minister said the Islamist-led alliance that ousted president Bashar al-Assad will “guarantee” the rights of all religious groups and called on the millions who fled the war to return home.
“Precisely because we are Islamic, we will guarantee the rights of all people and all sects in Syria,” said Mohammad al-Bashir, whom the rebels appointed as the transitional head of government.
Asked whether Syria’s new constitution would be Islamic, he told Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera: “We will clarify all these details during the constituent process”.
1:05pm
‘You’ll lose’, Russian agents told Assad
Russian intelligence operatives persuaded Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad that he would lose against rapidly advancing rebel groups and then organised his escape, sources have said.
Russian agents flew Assad out via its air base in Syria after offering him and his family safe passage if he left immediately, Bloomberg has reported, citing three unnamed sources with knowledge of the situation.
The aircraft’s transponder was turned off to avoid being tracked, said one of the sources.
The former al-Qaeda offshoot HTS swept unopposed into Damascus within hours of Assad’s departure, and claimed victory in the Syrian civil war that had raged for nearly 14 years.
President Vladimir Putin is yet to speak publicly about the collapse of the Assad regime.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov confirmed on Tuesday that Assad had been “secured” in Russia, but would not elaborate “on what happened and how it was resolved”.
Asked whether Russia would hand over Assad for trial, Mr Ryabkov said: “Russia is not a party to the convention that established the International Criminal Court.”