Syrian rebels have set on fire the tomb of the country’s former President Hafez al-Assad in his hometown in the northwest, a war monitor said on Wednesday.
Assad ruled Syria for 30 years until his death in 2000, when his son, Bashar, succeeded him.
Both ruled Syria with an iron fist and were behind crackdowns that left tens of thousands dead, both in the central city of Hama in 1982, and in the wider country since the civil war in 2011.
Bashar al-Assad was ousted over the weekend and fled to Russia to be given political asylum, where he reportedly plans to set up an ophthalmology clinic.
Rami Abdurrahman of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Syrian journalist Qusay Noor said that the tomb was set on fire Wednesday in the town of Qardaha in Latakia province.
Videos showed armed men chanting and dancing around the burning mausoleum while holding a Syrian flag aloft.
The rebels are led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which swept across Syria in a surprise offensive that collapsed the Assad family dynasty's 54-year rule.
The main commander of the rebels has vowed retribution for anyone involved in the torture or killing of critics of the old regime, including detainees.
"We will pursue them in Syria, and we ask countries to hand over those who fled so we can achieve justice," Abu Mohammed al-Golani said on the Syrian state TV's Telegram channel.
The future of Syria remains unclear, with the world waiting to see if the rebels can stabilise the country and avoid unleashing violent revenge, after a 13-year civil war fought along sectarian and ethnic lines destroyed the country.
The Assad family ran one of the most oppressive police states in the Middle East during five decades of rule, with multiple abhorrent human rights abuses.
Mohammad al-Bashir, the man installed by Golani's fighters to lead an interim administration, said he aimed to bring back millions of refugees, create unity and provide basic services.
However, the new regime faces a struggle with limited state funds.
“In the coffers there are only Syrian pounds worth little or nothing. One U.S. dollar buys 35,000 of our coins," he told Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera.
"We have no foreign currency and as for loans and bonds we are still collecting data. So yes, financially we are very bad.”
Rebuilding Syria is a colossal task following a civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people.
Major cities have been bombed to ruins and millions of refugees still live in camps after one of the biggest displacements in the post-war period.
Western officials are warily engaging with the former rebels, although HTS remains designated an international terrorist organisation by the US, the UN, and the UK.
The new government must "uphold clear commitments to fully respect the rights of minorities, facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance to all in need, prevent Syria from being used as a base for terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbours," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres added: "It's our duty to do everything to support different Syrian leaders in order to make sure that they come together, they are able to guarantee a smooth transition."
He added: "The alternative doesn't make any sense."
