Assad fled Syria after a lightning offensive led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), 13 years after his crackdown on opposition to democracy led to one of the deadliest wars of the century.
He left a country plagued by decades of torture, disappearances and summary executions, and the fall of his regime on December 8 shocked the world and sparked celebrations in Syria and beyond.
Years of civil war have also left the country heavily dependent on aid, deeply fragmented and desperate for justice and peace.
Addressing reporters in Damascus, UN special envoy Geir Pedersen said, “There is great hope that we can now see the beginning of a new Syria”.
“A new Syria that… will adopt a new constitution… and when that time comes we will have free and fair elections, after the transition,” he said.
Calling for immediate humanitarian aid, he also expressed hope for an end to international sanctions against Syria due to Assad’s abuses.
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher called on donor countries to step up aid to respond to “this moment of hope” for Syria.
“Across the country, the needs are huge. Seven out of 10 people need support right now,” Fletcher told AFP in a telephone interview while visiting Syria.
“The Syrian people are trying to return home when it is safe to do so, to rebuild their country, to rebuild their communities and their lives.
“We must follow them and respond to this moment of hope.”
Amid fears of a major escalation between the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkish-backed groups, Pedersen said the situation in Kurdish-controlled areas in Syria’s northeast remains a key challenge.
Turkey accuses the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the main component of the SDF, of being affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants, which both Washington and Ankara consider a “terrorist” group.
The United States said on Tuesday it had extended a tenuous ceasefire in the flashpoint city of Manbij and was seeking a broader understanding with Turkey.
But later on Wednesday, a Syrian war monitor said 21 pro-Turkish fighters were killed in an attack on a Kurdish-held position near Manbij despite the ceasefire extension.
At least 21 pro-Turkish faction members were killed and others wounded by Manbij Military Council fire after pro-Turkish factions attacked the Syrian Observatory’s site at Tishrin Dam, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from Manbij. Human rights said. The Manbij Military Council is affiliated with the SDF.
– ‘We want to know’ –
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Rooted in Syria’s branch of al-Qaeda and proscribed as a terrorist organization by many Western governments, HTS has sought to moderate its rhetoric by assuring the safety of the country’s many religious and ethnic minorities.
It has appointed a transitional leadership to run the country until March 1.
HTS has promised justice for crimes committed under Assad’s rule, including the disappearance of tens of thousands of people in a complex web of detention centers and prisons that were used for decades to silence dissent.
“We want to know where our children are, our brothers,” said Ziad Alaywi, 55, standing in a ditch near the town of Najah, southeast of Damascus.
It is one of the sites where Syrians believe the bodies of prisoners who were tortured to death were buried – acts that international organizations say could constitute crimes against humanity.
“Are they killed? Are they buried here?” he asked.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 100,000 people have died in detention since 2011.
– ‘Direct involvement’ –
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The country’s new rulers have sought to maintain their institutions and on Wednesday, a commercial flight took off from Damascus airport for Aleppo, the first to flee Russia since Assad’s fall.
They have also increased contact with countries and international organizations that have long viewed Assad as a pariah.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc would step up its “direct engagement” with the new administration.
Members of the UN Security Council, which also includes Assad’s allies Russia and the United States, called on Tuesday for an “inclusive and Syrian-led” political process.
“This political process must fulfill the legitimate aspirations of all Syrians, protect them all and enable them to determine their future peacefully, freely and democratically,” a statement said.
It “stressed the need for Syria and its neighbors to mutually refrain from any actions that could undermine each other’s security”.
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on Syrian military installations since Assad’s ouster in a bid to prevent them from falling into enemy hands.
Israeli forces also occupied strategic positions in the UN-patrolled buffer zone, a move by UN chief Antonio Guterres that violated a 1974 ceasefire with Syria.