Damascus – Syria's capital was on automatic pilot on Tuesday, with no new government in place after the dramatic rebel attack that ousted longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad on Sunday. But as the former al-Qaeda campaign that led that charge put some of its key figures in charge of a self-declared transitional administration, many Syrians seemed determined to try to get on with business as most usual.
Some institutions, including Syria's central bank, asked employees to report for work, and many people seemed to be hoping that simply sticking to daily routines would be the best option. safe in the face of total uncertainty about the country's future.
Some efforts are being made to disturb him. Mohamed al-Bashir, a politician who previously led a local government in the northwestern parts of Syria and Idlib that was ruled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, before his surprise 12-day offensive , announced as interim prime minister for the next step. three months.
CBS News
And although there is still anxiety, there was still energy, especially in the capital Damascus, which until Sunday was the seat of the Assad family's brutal grip on power for fifty years. On Monday, a large crowd came to view around one of the former dictator's houses and to get to know the Islamic fighters who swept into their city on Sunday.
These rebel forces, while patrolling the streets, were on their best behavior – even allowing the public to hold their weapons for photo opportunities.
“It's a celebration for all of us, for all Syrians: here and around the world,” said Lina Zacchar, one of the many Syrians who came to see the former president's family home. my mother is a Christian, so she is afraid. But we tell her… we hope for a new Syria. We are all brothers, we are all sisters, we are all one! We are Syrians.”
At another symbol of the regime, the presidential palace, members of the public walked the large ceremonial rooms where the Assads once greeted dignitaries.
The idea of getting anywhere near the palace would once be unthinkable to the general population. Now, its doors are wide open. CBS News found the palace under the command of a rebel soldier named Ahmed who was nearly killed fighting Assad's forces nine years ago.
“I was personally targeted and injured in a strike in 2015 on our home. My relatives are detained and I don't know their fate,” Ahmed told CBS News on Monday. “Maybe they are in the regime prisons and I hope we can release them from it.”
Ahmed – like all other rebel fighters – is waiting for new orders. HTS's efforts to gain political legitimacy remain a big question mark, marred by questionable human rights records in the areas of Syria it ruled, and doubts about the group's ability to heal the country's religious divides. .
Parts of the country are still ravaged by war as Turkish-backed fighters fight Kurdish forces allied with the US in the north, and the Islamic State group and its terrorist ideology are still active in pockets of the country.
As Syria goes through a seismic shift, the country is in a historic, but still dangerous, time.
