Summary
Here’s a wrap-up of the day’s key events:
Thousands of Syrians have taken to the streets in celebration following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad. On Friday, Agence-France Presse reported that families with children, as well as armed and uniformed Islamist fighters gathered in celebration of the first Friday prayers in Damascus following Assad’s overthrow.
During US secretary of state Antony Blinken’s trip to Iraq, the US’s top diplomat warned against the resurgence of ISIS, also known by the Arabic acronym Daesh. “We are determined to make sure that Daesh cannot re-emerge,” Blinken said.
The European Union is seeking establish diplomatic contact “soon” with with Syria’s new leadership, which is headed by the Islamist group Hayat Tahiri al-Sham (HTS), Agence France-Presse reports. Speaking to the AFP, a high-ranking European Union official said, “What we are now thinking is to establish contacts, to pass messages about our expectations.” The official added that the outreach would be at “working level.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has launched two new telephone hotlines in hopes of helping Syrians reunite with loved ones who have been missing for years. Since Syria’s civil war began more than 13 years ago, the ICRC said it has received around 35,000 reports of missing people.
Syria’s new interim authorities have asked the United Nations refugee agency to remain in the country and indicated a willingness to protect them, UNHCR said Friday. “The needs are absolutely huge,” Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, UNHCR’s representative in Syria, told reporters. The agency had had “some contact with the interim authorities”, he said, adding: “the initial signals that they are sending us are constructive”.
The European Commission said it would launch an “air bridge” operation aimed at delivering an initial 50 tonnes of health supplies to Syria via neighbouring Turkey in the coming days. A further 46 tonnes of relief supplies will be trucked from a stockpile in Denmark for distribution in Syria by Unicef and the World Health Organization.
Russia has also reportedly established direct contact with the political committee of Syria’s Islamist rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, according to the Interfax news agency, which quoted Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Mikhail Bogdanov. In comments to reporters, Bogdanov reportedly said Moscow aims to maintain its military bases in Syria.
Here are some images coming through the newswires from Syria where thousands of Syrians are celebrating the first Friday prayer following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad:
