\n
In other key developments:<\/p>\n
Statues and posters of the late president Hafez and his son Bashar have been pulled down across the country to cheers from Syrians celebrating the end of their rule.<\/p>\n
In 2011, Bashar al-Assad brutally crushed a peaceful pro-democracy uprising, sparking a devastating civil war in which more than half a million people have been killed and 12 million others forced to flee their homes.<\/p>\n
Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria ruthlessly from 1971 until his death in 2000, when power was handed to his son. <\/p>\n
He was born and raised in a family of Alawites, an offshoot of Shia Islam and a religious minority in Syria, whose main centre of population is in Latakia province near the Mediterranean coast close to the border with Turkey.<\/p>\n
Many Alawites – who make up about 10% of the country’s population – were staunch supporters of the Assads during their long stay in power. <\/p>\n
Some of them now fear that they may be targeted by the victorious rebels.<\/p>\n
On Monday, a rebel delegation with members of HTS and another Sunni Muslim group, the Free Syrian Army, met Qardaha elders and received their support, according to Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n
The rebel delegation signed a document, which Reuters reported emphasised Syria’s religious and cultural diversity.<\/p>\n
HTS and allied rebel factions seized control of the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday after years of civil war.<\/p>\n
HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, who has now started using his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is a former jihadist who cut ties with al-Qaeda in 2016. He has recently pledged tolerance for different religious groups and communities.<\/p>\n
The UN envoy for Syria has said the rebels must transform their “good messages” into practice on the ground.<\/p>\n
The US secretary of state meanwhile said Washington would recognise and fully support a future Syrian government so long as it emerged from a credible, inclusive process that respected minorities.<\/p>\n
HTS has appointed a transitional government led by Mohammed al-Bashir, the former head of the rebel administration in the north-west, until March 2025.<\/p>\n
Bashir chaired a meeting in Damascus on Tuesday attended by members of his new government and those of Assad’s former cabinet to discuss the transfer of portfolios and institutions.<\/p>\n
He has said it is time for people to “enjoy stability and calm” after the end of the Assad regime.<\/p>\n
In Damascus, BBC correspondents have been seeing signs of life beginning to return to normal, with people heading back to work and shops reopening. <\/p>\n
Joud Insani, who works in a chocolate shop in the Syrian capital, tells the BBC she was able to open “without fear”, adding that she had noticed a welcome change in the types of customers who visit. <\/p>\n
“We reopened without fear because the people we serve are now not intimidating at all,” she said. <\/p>\n
“Before, everyone who came to buy from us was either there to represent a general or a minister loyal to the Assad regime. Now thank God, that is no longer the case.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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