Syria marks one 12 months for the reason that fall of the Assad regime : NPR

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

At present, Syrians are marking the primary anniversary of the autumn of dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The opposition’s chief, a former Al-Qaeda fighter, is now Syria’s president. He is been welcomed to the White Home and embraced by many – though not all – Syrians. Correspondent Jane Arraf is on the celebrations in Damascus and is on the road with me now. Hello, Jane.

JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: Hello, Leila.

FADEL: So the place within the metropolis are you? What are you seeing?

ARRAF: I am in Umayyad Sq., which, as you realize, is without doubt one of the massive landmarks of town.

FADEL: Yeah.

ARRAF: And also you bear in mind after we had been in Damascus shortly after the autumn of the regime, it was wild, proper?

FADEL: Sure.

ARRAF: There have been folks within the sq. on a regular basis, waving flags, singing.

FADEL: Yeah.

ARRAF: It is type of like that now, solely about 10 instances extra. 1000’s of individuals right here. I imply, it is a transient lull within the celebrations, which actually have been happening for the previous few days – fireworks, folks driving round, honking their horns. It has been a vacation. However you may see town now’s a bit completely different – cleaner, extra organized, and persons are simply – folks right here, anyway, are simply stuffed with pleasure. They’re celebrating issues you could’t really feel, however they definitely do. It is that freedom from concern.

FADEL: Yeah. And a 12 months on, what else is occurring to commemorate at the present time?

ARRAF: Effectively, as you realize, after many years of the Assad management, after which the civil battle that lasted from 2011 to simply final 12 months…

FADEL: Yeah.

ARRAF: …Plenty of this pleasure is blended with sorrow.

FADEL: In fact.

ARRAF: Earlier this morning, we had been at a mosque, one of many fundamental mosques within the neighborhood the place the riot was significantly robust, and lots of of individuals had been killed within the authorities crackdown. Their images at the moment are lining the partitions of that mosque, and it went on for blocks. Folks in that mosque and throughout the nation testified their religion, their Muslim religion, this morning on the precise time that Damascus was liberated.

UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Chanting in non-English language).

ARRAF: These daybreak prayers additionally gave thanks for the revolution. I spoke to at least one girl there. A few of them had been going round mentioning images of their lacking or lifeless family members. And one girl instructed me she thought of all of them her household. And that is as a result of they’re nonetheless discovering mass graves right here, that stage of sorrow. Many individuals do not know what’s occurred to their family members.

FADEL: Yeah. What about what the president of Syria, this new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, which many Syrians consider in, however there are various Syrians who’re skeptical of, what’s he telling folks on at the present time?

ARRAF: Effectively, he appears to be attempting very exhausting to make this work. To tamp down the violence, to extend confidence amongst Syrians. We spoke with Syrian American activist Moaz Mustafa. We have coated him for the reason that begin and earlier than. He is from the Syria Emergency Job Power. He met with al-Sharaa final night time, and he says the problem is to construct establishments.

MOAZ MUSTAFA: There ought to by no means be a rustic that’s actually all primarily based on only one particular person’s presence. And I believe one in every of his challenges is to construct the establishments and to construct a political course of that’s consultant that enables Syria to outlive if he, God forbid, dies any day.

ARRAF: So actually, it appears to be a stability between that cult of movie star and other people and nations who suppose that al-Sharaa has not moved past his militant roots.

FADEL: That is Jane Arraf in Damascus. Thanks.

ARRAF: Thanks.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Go to our web site phrases of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for additional data.

Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts could range. Transcript textual content could also be revised to appropriate errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org could also be edited after its authentic broadcast or publication. The authoritative file of NPR’s programming is the audio file.