Syria entered uncharted political waters on Sunday after the collapse of the 24-year rule of Bashar Al Assad under a rebel advance so swift even his allies in Moscow and Tehran failed to prevent it.
The president left the country by plane to an unknown destination hours after rebels overran the city of Homs, Arab officials said. The capture of Homs cut off the supply line from his seat of power in Damascus to the Alawite Mountains, the ancestral home of the Alawite minority that has dominated power in majority-Sunni Syria for the last six decades.
“Freedom, freedom,” shouted crowds in the main Umayyad Square in Damascus, a few blocks from Mr Assad’s home, as the fireworks lit the night sky.
The downfall of Mr Al Assad undermines years of methodical work by Russia and Iran to expand in the Middle East and weakens the US. He was a crucial link in an uneasy alliance but differed on how much Iran could use Syria as a launch pad to threaten Israel. The Russian and Iranian military presence had reportedly shrunk in Syria in the last week as the iron grip of the regime loosened.
Over the past 12 days, thousands of political prisoners in jails and secret police dungeons were freed after security forces abandoned their positions in the cities of Aleppo, Hama, Homs and finally Damascus. The high-walled compounds and security towers underpinned the iron rule of Mr Assad and before him his father Hafez Al Assad, who came to power in a 1970 military coup that deposed another Alawite officer. Posters and statues of the father and the son, symbols of the decades-long personality cult, came down.
“The minimum amount of bloodshed that has been spilt in the past several days leading to regime’s downfall tells you about the direction Syria is heading,” said Fawaz Tello, was jailed for five years for leading the pro-democracy Damascus Spring movement shortly after Mr Assad came to power in 2000.
The rebels are led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, an Al Qaeda offshoot with links to Turkey. Its leader Ahmad Al Shara, formerly known as Abu Muhammad Al Julani, has instructed the rebels to keep the civil department of the government under the supervision of the last prime minister who served under Assad. Mr Al Shara recently abandoned his nom de guerre, to project an image of moderation, although his organisation is listed as terrorist the US and Europe.
“The message is to maintain continuity of state functions and avoid violence,” Mr Tello said from Berlin, adding that Mr Shara is “currently the leader of the revolution” but that he will become a civilian figure.
“He can run for elections in the new, democratic Syria,” Mr Tello said, adding that core supporters of Mr Assad, who are mainly Alawites, can join in “building the new Syria if they don’t have blood on their hands".
“All what they need to do is to say sorry,” Mr Tello said.
Syria was the last country whose population arose in the wave of Arab uprisings a decade ago. The regime used deadly force to suppress the protest movement that began in March 2011, killing thousands of civilians and prompting a violent backlash by members of the Sunni majority. By the end of it, Syria was in civil war. The country fragmented into Russian, Iranian, US and Turkish zones of control, manned by the proxies of each country.
Ahmad Tumeh, who fled to Turkey to escape persecution after leading the pro-democracy movement in eastern Syria in 2011, said that the rebels “have learnt the lesson” from the disintegration of some states after the Arab uprisings.
“They will avoid chaos. Syria is on its way of becoming a pluralistic, tolerant state,” he said. “What happened has already proved that the Syrian people are capable of miracles."
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The five pillars of Islam
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More on Quran memorisation:
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2015%20PRO%20MAX
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
More on animal trafficking
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Analysis
Maros Sefcovic is juggling multiple international trade agreement files, but his message was clear when he spoke to The National on Wednesday.
The EU-UAE bilateral trade deal will be finalised soon, he said. It is in everyone’s interests to do so. Both sides want to move quickly and are in alignment. He said the UAE is a very important partner for the EU. It’s full speed ahead - and with some lofty ambitions - on the road to a free trade agreement.
We also talked about US-EU tariffs. He answered that both sides need to talk more and more often, but he is prepared to defend Europe's position and said diplomacy should be a guiding principle through the current moment.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The Facility’s Versatility
Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
The Florida Project
Director: Sean Baker
Starring: Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe
Four stars
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
More from Neighbourhood Watch
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Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
The five pillars of Islam
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
