The chief of the primary Syrian opposition armed group that seized Syria’s capital, Abu Mohammed al-Julani, has stated the Syrian individuals are the “rightful house owners” of the nation after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, and declared a “new historical past” has been written for the complete Center East.
Arriving in Damascus simply hours after his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) insurgent group led the capture of the city on Sunday, the chief gave a victory speech within the capital’s symbolic Umayyad Mosque.
As daylight broke, Syrians woke as much as a dramatically modified nation, after opposition forces swept into Damascus following a lightning offensive. They declared that they’d toppled the federal government of “tyrant” Bashar al-Assad, who fled Syria within the early hours of Sunday and is in Russia, in line with Russian media experiences.
“The [al-Assad] regime has imprisoned 1000’s of its personal civilians unjustly and with out them committing any crimes,” al-Julani informed a crowd gathered on the Umayyad Mosque.
“We [the Syrian people] are the rightful house owners [of this country]. We’ve got been combating, and at this time we have now been rewarded with this victory.”
“How many individuals have been displaced internationally? How many individuals lived in tents? What number of drowned within the seas?” requested al-Julani, who has begun to go by his actual title, Ahmed al-Sharaa.
“A brand new historical past, my brothers, is being written in the complete area after this nice victory,” he stated earlier than reminding the group that it will take arduous work to construct a brand new Syria that may be “a beacon for the Islamic nation”.
The chief referred to as for prayers to offer thanks for the triumph.
“God won’t fail you,” al-Julani stated. “This victory is for all Syrians; they have been all a part of this victory.”
Concentrate on unity
Al-Julani beforehand led the Syrian department of al-Qaeda, al-Nusra Entrance, earlier than distancing himself from the group.
Nonetheless, HTS remains to be thought-about a “terrorist” group by the USA, the European Union and Turkiye, and has been accused by human rights teams of committing abuses in Idlib, the place it has ruled a lot of the province since 2017.
Al-Julani and HTS have sought to alter that notion, specializing in a message of unity since their offensive started, and highlighted in al-Julani’s speech within the Umayyad Mosque.
Talking from the Lebanon-Syria border, Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi stated that there have been two vital components of the HTS chief’s speech.
“He pushed this concept that there shouldn’t be vengeance … that Syria for all Syrians, must be one thing that individuals ought to deal with,” stated Basravi.
“He additionally criticised the Iranian authorities and its involvement in Syria, making the purpose that that is not going to be a authorities that shall be affected by Iran as an outdoor actor.”
Al-Julani was filmed prostrating in prayer on Sunday after he arrived in Damascus.
A press release learn earlier on Sunday on Syrian state tv, which rebels took over, quoted al-Julani as saying: “We proceed to work with dedication to attain the targets of our revolution … We’re decided to finish the trail we began in 2011.”
The televised assertion additionally quoted him saying: “We won’t cease combating till all of the rights of the nice Syrian individuals are secured. The longer term is ours and we’re transferring in direction of victory.”
The whirlwind opposition advance on Sunday got here after 13 years of brutal war, which additionally put an finish to greater than half a century of the al-Assad household’s rule.
The Syrian conflict began as a largely unarmed rebellion in opposition to al-Assad in March 2011, however ultimately changed into an all-out conflict that dragged in overseas powers, killed a whole lot of 1000’s of individuals and turned thousands and thousands into refugees.
Russian and Iranian intervention appeared to sway the tide in direction of al-Assad in 2015, however the HTS-led offensive that started final month took benefit of Russia’s deal with its conflict on Ukraine, in addition to the weakening of Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah because of their battle with Israel.