A Syrian businessman whose brother died in the Grenfell Tower fire said he wishes he was here to witness the end of the Assad regime.
Omar Alhaj Ali, 32, came to the UK in 2014 with his younger brother Mohammad to escape the Syrian war.
Two years later they moved into a flat on the 14th floor of Grenfell Tower, nine months before the deadly fire that killed 72 people.
Omar was helped by firefighters to escape the blaze but Mohammad did not survive.
As Syrians around the world celebrate the fall of president Bashar Assad, who led the country through 14 years of war that left half a million Syrians dead, Mr Alhaj Ali said he wished his brother was here to see it.
“I wish he was here to see this, because I remember in Syria we both wanted this change,” Mr Alhaj Ali told the PA news agency.
“When everything started in our city Daraa, we were protesting together.
“It would have been the happiest moment of my life, if he was here to see what’s happening now in Syria, and to celebrate together.”
Mr Alhaj Ali, who is now married with children and has lived in London for the last 10 years, says he would like to return to visit Daraa but says it would be a difficult experience.
“I would love to go back to Syria to visit but it’s not an easy decision,” he said.
“Most of my city Daraa is completely destroyed. I don’t have a home there any more.
“Syria is not going to look the same for me any more.”
The brothers left Syria in 2014, just a few years after the war started.
“At that time when you finish university, you have two options, either to go and join the army, or to actually leave Syria because if you are in the army, then you have to fight your own people,” Mr Alhaj Ali said.
“If you don’t accept to go to the army, then you will be arrested and be put in prison forever, or you might be killed.
“I lost a lot of friends in Syria, family, relatives, and a lot of people who disappeared in prison.”
Mr Assad reportedly left Syria for Russia early on Sunday, after rebels launched a major offensive against the government.
His fall marks the end of the Assad family’s 53 year reign in the country.
“For so long the people of Syria have lived under a regime of fear, repression and violence,” said Mr Alhaj Ali.
“A lot of people have dreamt to live this moment of Syria without a dictatorship.
“I still can’t believe it.
“It will take some time for people to understand that he’s not there anymore.”
He said he was hopeful about his country’s future and that Syrians should be able vote for the new government.
“It’s not going to be an easy change. It’s going to be a really hard phase with a lot of challenges, and healing from this definitely will take longer.
“Syrians want to have the right to vote to choose their new government.”
