From BBC News.

Mass rallies are getting under way in Syria today to celebrate the end of five decades of authoritarian rule by the Assad regime.

Images from Damascus show people gathering for the first Friday prayers since Islamist rebels seized power on Sunday.

Former President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia, where he and his family have been given asylum, after rebels captured the capital Damascus.

Rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has pledged to pursue officials suspected of torture and said he would close notorious Assad-era prisons.
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