DAMASCUS: Syrians were set to commemorate the 14th anniversary of their uprising on Saturday in public demonstrations in Damascus and other cities for the first time since president Bashar Assad was toppled.
A demonstration will be held in Umayyad Square in the capital Damascus, the first after years of repression under Assad during which the square was the sole preserve of the toppled president’s supporters.
Activists also called on people to gather in Homs, Idlib and Hama at demonstrations raising the slogan “Syria is victorious.”
Qader Al-Sayed, 35, told AFP that “we always used to protest on the anniversary of the revolution in Idlib, but today we will celebrate victory in the heart of Damascus.”
“It’s a dream come true,” he added from Damascus.
Syria’s conflict began with peaceful demonstrations on March 15, 2011, in which thousands protested against Assad’s government, before it spiralled into civil war after his violent repression of the protests.
This year’s commemoration marks the first since Assad was toppled on December 8 by Islamist-led rebels.
Ahmed Al-Sharaa, who headed the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham which spearheaded the offensive, has since been named interim president.
On Thursday, Sharaa signed into force a constitutional declaration regulating a five-year transition period before a permanent constitution is to be put into place.
Analysts have criticized the declaration, saying it grants too much power to Sharaa and fails to provide sufficient protection to the country’s minorities.
It also came a week after Syria’s Mediterranean coast, the heartland of Assad’s Alawite minority, was gripped by the worst wave of violence since his overthrow.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, security forces and allied groups killed at least 1,500 civilians, mainly Alawites, in the violence that erupted on March 6.
The United Nations’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said on Friday: “It is fourteen years since Syrians took to the streets in peaceful protest, demanding dignity, freedom and a better future.”
He added in a statement that despite the brutal civil war, “the resilience of Syrians and their pursuit of justice, dignity and peace endure. And they now deserve a transition that is worthy of this.”
He called for “an immediate end to all violence and for protection of civilians.”
Syrians commemorate uprising anniversary for first time since Assad’s fall
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Syrians commemorate uprising anniversary for first time since Assad’s fall
- Syrians were set to commemorate the 14th anniversary of their uprising on Saturday in public demonstrations in Damascus and other cities for the first time since president Bashar Assad was toppled
UN presses Houthis for release of 73 detained staff as Yemen envoy holds talks in Oman
- Hans Grundberg meets in Muscat with senior Omani officials, and discusses with chief Houthi negotiator Mohammed Abdul Salam pathways for political dialogue
- The Houthis, who control much of northwestern Yemen including the capital, Sanaa, have detained UN employees and conducted raids on the organization’s premises
NEW YORK CITY: The UN said on Tuesday that extensive diplomatic efforts continue in an effort to secure the immediate release of dozens of UN staff arbitrarily detained by the Houthi militia in Yemen.
It came as the UN’s special envoy for the war-torn country, Hans Grundberg, held talks in the region aimed at reviving a political process to end the conflict.
He met senior Omani officials in Muscat on Tuesday to discuss recent developments in Yemen and the wider regional context, a UN spokesperson said. Oman has played a key mediation role during the conflict in Yemen.
Grundberg also met Mohammed Abdul Salam, chief negotiator for the Houthis, to discuss pathways for political dialogue.
The issue of detained UN staff featured prominently in the meetings. During the talks, the UN said, the envoy stressed the need to maintain momentum regarding the release of conflict-related detainees, building on discussions held in Muscat in December.
Grundberg and Muin Shreim, the UN official leading discussions about detainees, raised concerns about the continuing arbitrary detention of UN personnel and called for their immediate and unconditional release, stressing the need to respect the safety and security of all UN staff, both locals and foreigners.
“One of the main topics consistently raised in all our discussions, as you can imagine, remains the fate of 73 of our colleagues who continue to be arbitrarily detained by the Houthis, some since 2021,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.
The UN demands the immediate and unconditional release of all detained members of staff from international and local nongovernmental organizations and civil society groups, and persons who had previously worked with diplomatic missions, he added.
The Houthis, who control much of northwestern Yemen including the capital, Sanaa, have detained UN employees and conducted raids on the organization’s premises in areas under their control.
In October last year, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi accused employees of the UN and humanitarian agencies of spying for Israel and the US. The UN denies the allegations. Following the accusations, the Houthis detained several members of UN staff and seized assets belonging to the organization.
During his meetings, Grundberg reaffirmed the UN’s continuing engagement with all parties in support of efforts to ensure a return to an inclusive political process that ends the near-decade-long war, which has devastated Yemen and triggered one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
