JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
In the Syrian capital, Damascus, posters of President Bashar al-Assad are still being torn down, and the Syrian flag is being replaced with the green, white and black banner with three red stars used by the rebels that ousted the Syrian regime. In this report, NPR's Ruth Sherlock shows us what it's like in the Syrian Capitol at this pivotal moment in the country's history. She begins in the central square of Damascus.
RUTH SHERLOCK, BYLINE: There are hundreds of people gathered on the square, and some of them are posing for photos with rebel fighters, standing in khaki military uniforms, long beards. And most worryingly, there are weapons everywhere, Kalashnikovs. I've just watched a young boy - he looks about 10 years old - brandish a gun.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Chanting in non-English language).
SHERLOCK: "Syrian people are one. The Syrian people are one."
These have been the chants of the Syrian Revolution since 2011, when the protests began. But back then, they were in Daraa, in Homs, on the fringes of Damascus. So many people here didn't imagine that one day they'd be right here.
The women in the crowd watch their children dance, and two young men, not yet used to a free Syria, come to chat to us without giving their names.
How are you feeling being here?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: We are so happy.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: So happy.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Ah, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: So happy.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: So happy. It's free kingdom.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: We don't need anything, just freedom.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Before, in Bashar reign, it was - you can't say your opinion.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Chanting in non-English language).
SHERLOCK: We've arrived at the presidential palace. Just a few days ago, it would have been unthinkable to have so many people streaming through here - now a crowd of people just walking up to go and see, trying to get access to the palace.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: (Speaking Arabic).
SHERLOCK: (Speaking Arabic).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: (Speaking Arabic).
SHERLOCK: (Speaking Arabic).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: (Speaking Arabic).
SHERLOCK: OK, we've been allowed through. They've secured the presidential palace. It was being looted. But we've shown our permissions. We've shown our press accreditation, and here we are. We're walking up the many, many terraces of the opulent gardens. Wow. It's a three-floored, cream-colored villa with arched windows and dramatic staircases leading up to the main door.
(SOUNDBITE OF GLASS CLINKING)
SHERLOCK: A chandelier that's been smashed. OK. We're in what looks like a reception hall with marble floors. The palace is empty. There's no furniture. You can hear the echo. Another room with an enormous marble conference table.
(SOUNDBITE OF RUBBLE CRUNCHING)
SHERLOCK: The windows at the front of the building are made of bulletproof glass.
Acquaintances of Bashar al-Assad tell me that, in these final months, he'd lost his grip on reality. He was surrounded by people who told him he was invincible. He'd won the war. But all the time, Syria was collapsing. The economy was on its knees, people struggling in abject poverty. There were no jobs.
Everything is ornate and expensive. The shutters are made of marble. These look like mahogany chairs, intricately carved. On the wall, a message is written in blood.
What does it say here?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: Ninth of December 2024. The terrible tyrant has left. Dr. Mohamed Abdelkarim was here. Haman won't forget.
SHERLOCK: Up to the top now.
And from here, Bashar could survey his kingdom. To the right, you can see the mountains that overlook Damascus, and the city stretches out before you here. In recent history in the Middle East, the ousting of a dictator has typically been followed by celebrations and then bitter disappointment. Iraq has been crippled by the violence that followed the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein. Libya, after the end of Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, descended into a country divided by civil war. Syrians will tell you they may be happy that this dictator has left after 54 years of rule, but they don't know what is to come. There is an extremely fragile hope.
Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, Damascus. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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