Crowds of Syrians have gathered to celebrate in the central squares of Damascus, chanting anti-Assad slogans and honking car horns. In some areas, celebratory gunshots ring out.
“My feelings are indescribable,” says Omar Daher, a 29-year-old lawyer. “After the fear that he [Bashar al-Assad] and his father made us live in for many years, and the panic and state of terror that I was living in, I can’t believe it.”
Daher says his father was killed by security forces and his brother is in detention, his fate unknown. Assad “is a criminal, a tyrant and a dog,” he says.
“Damn his soul and the soul of the entire Assad family,” says Ghazal al-Sharif, another reveler in central Damascus. “It is the prayer of every oppressed person and God answered it today.”
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From the Liveblog of
Sunday, December 8, 2024
