Trvalý odkaz Pridané používateľom Anonymný (bez overenia) dňa So, 12/14/2024 - 13:09
Fireworks erupt above people celebrating the ouster of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad <br>
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at Umayyad Square in central Damascus<br>
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Jordan will host US, EU, Turkish and Arab diplomats on Saturday for high-level talks on Syria, a day after celebrations in Damascus and nationwide rejoicing at the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad.<br>
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Syrians celebrated the day they called the "Friday of victory" with fireworks heralding the fall <br>
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of the Assad dynasty.<br>
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More than half a century of brutal rule by his clan came to a sudden end on Sunday, after <br>
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a lightning rebel offensive swept across the country and took the capital.<br>
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Assad's fall has also led to fast-moving diplomatic developments, with US <br>
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken among envoys <br>
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set to discuss Syria on Saturday in the Jordanian city of Aqaba.<br>
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<strong>People in Syria's Aleppo celebrate the fall of Assad during rallies called <br>
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the 'Friday of victory'</strong><br>
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Turkey, meanwhile, will reopen its embassy in Damascus, closed since 2012 amid calls by Ankara for Assad to step down.<br>
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A Qatari diplomat said a delegation from the Gulf emirate <br>
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would visit Syria on Sunday to meet transitional government officials and <a href="https://ondashboard.win/story.php?title=wine-fundamentals-explained">discuss</a> aid and <br>
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the reopening of their embassy.<br>
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<u><strong>Unlike other Arab states, Qatar never restored diplomatic ties with Assad after a rupture in 2011.</strong></u><br>
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Assad has fled Syria, closing an era in which suspected dissidents were jailed or killed,<br>
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and capping nearly 14 years of war that killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.<br>
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<b>- 'Tears of joy' -</b><br>
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Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, head of the Islamist group Hayat <br>
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Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which spearheaded the offensive, had called on Syrians "to go to the streets to express their joy".<br>
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A girl jumps off a toppled statue of Syrian ex-president <br>
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Hafez al-Assad during celebrations in the city of Sweida<br>
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Celebrations continued into the night on the first Friday -- the <br>
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Muslim day of rest and prayer -- since Assad took flight.<br>
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Umayyad Square in Damascus was jammed with vehicles, people <br>
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and waving flags as fireworks shot into the air, AFPTV live images showed.<br>
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Thousands flocked to the capital's landmark Umayyad Mosque, some raising the <br>
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three-star Syrian independence flag that none dared wave <br>
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in the capital during Assad's repressive rule.<br>
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Crowds also gathered in the squares and streets of other Syrian cities,<br>
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including Homs, Hama and Idlib.<br>
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There was a festive and relaxed atmosphere <br>
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as hundreds rallied in the main square of Syria's second city Aleppo, a scene of <br>
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fierce fighting during the country's civil war, AFP correspondents <br>
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said.<br>
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Huge lines to attend the first Friday prayers at the landmark <br>
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Umayyad Mosque in Damascus since Assad's ouster<br>
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<b>A huge billboard depicting Assad and his father Hafez was <br>
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set on fire.</b><br>
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Ahmad Abd al-Majed, 39, an engineer who returned to Aleppo from Turkey, said that many shed "tears of joy and happiness".<br>
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<u>"Syrians deserve to be happy," he said.</u><br>
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In the southern city of Sweida, the heartland of Syria's Druze minority, Bayan al-Hinnawi, <br>
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77, never believed he would live to see such a day.<br>
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"It's a wonderful sight. Nobody could have imagined this could happen",<br>
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said Hinnawi, who spent 17 years in prison.<br>
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<strong>- Tens of thousands missing -</strong><br>
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Sunni Muslim HTS is rooted in Syria's branch of Al-Qaeda and designated a terrorist organisation by many <br>
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Western governments.<br>
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The group has sought to moderate its rhetoric, and the interim government insists the rights of all Syrians will <br>
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be protected -- as will the rule of law.<br>
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The European Union was seeking "to establish contacts" with the new <br>
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rulers soon, an EU official told AFP on condition of <br>
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anonymity.<br>
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The UN refugee agency said the new government had sent "constructive" initial signals, including <br>
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asking the organisation to stay in the country.<br>
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<b>A rose placed in the barrel of a gun of a Syrian rebel fighter <br>
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in Damascus</b><br>
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Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) democratic countries, who met <br>
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virtually on Friday, expressed hope for "a peaceful and orderly transition through the definition of an inclusive political process" in Syria.<br>
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Inside much of Syria, the focus is turning towards unravelling the secrets of Assad's rule, particularly the network of detention centres and suspected torture sites.<br>
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Syrians have descended upon prisons, hospitals and morgues in search of long-disappeared loved ones.<br>
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"I turned the world upside down looking," Abu <br>
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Mohammed told AFP as he searched for news of three missing relatives at the Mazzeh airbase in Damascus.<br>
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<b>"We just want a hint of where they were."</b><br>
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The International Committee of the Red Cross said it documented more than 35,000 disappearances during Assad's rule, with the actual number likely far <br>
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higher.<br>
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While Syrians celebrate the end of Assad's brutal rule, they face a struggle for necessities <br>
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in a country ravaged by war, sanctions and runaway inflation.<br>
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On Friday, the EU announced the launch of an "air bridge" <br>
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operation to deliver an initial 50 tonnes of health supplies via neighbouring Turkey.<br>
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<b>- Israel ready to stay in buffer zone -</b><br>
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<i><u>Israeli incursion into Golan buffer zone</u></i><br>
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Assad was propped up by Russia -- where a senior Russian official told US <br>
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media he has fled -- as well as Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group.<br>
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Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told private NTV television that his country had urged Russia and Iran not to <br>
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intervene militarily "to ensure minimum loss of life".<br>
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The rebels launched their offensive on November 27, the <br>
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same day a ceasefire took effect in the Israel-Hezbollah war,<br>
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which saw Israel inflict staggering losses <br>
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on Assad's Lebanese ally.<br>
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Both Israel and Turkey, which backs some of the rebels who ousted Assad, have since carried out strikes inside Syria.<br>
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Israel's latest strikes hit military sites in the Eastern Qalamun region, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Saturday.<br>
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Israel has also sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer <br>
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zone that separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the <br>
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Golan Heights, in a move the UN said violated a 1974 armistice.<br>
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The army has been ordered to "prepare to remain" there throughout the <br>
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winter, Defence Minister Israel Katz's office said Friday.
Fireworks erupt above people