With Assad ousted, a new era starts in Syria as the world watches

Syrians awakened on Monday to a hopeful if uncertain future, after rebels seized the capital Damascus and President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia, following 13 years of civil war and more than 50 years of his family’s brutal rule.

The lightning advance of a militia alliance spearheaded by Hayat al-Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaeda affiliate, marked one of the biggest turning points for the Middle East in generations. Assad’s fall wiped out a bastion from which Iran and Russia exercised influence across the Arab world.

Moscow gave asylum to Assad and his family, Russian media reported and Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s ambassador to international organisations in Vienna, said on his Telegram channel on Sunday.

International governments welcomed the end of the Assads’ autocratic government, as they sought to take stock of a new-look Middle East.

U.S. President Joe Biden said Syria is in a period of risk and uncertainty, and it is the first time in years that neither Russia, Iran nor the Hezbollah militant organisation held an influential role there.

HTS is still designated as a terrorist group by the U.S., Turkey and the United Nations, although it has spent years trying to soften its image to reassure international governments and minority groups within Syria.