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Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa vowed to usher in an era of justice and coexistence a year after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets to mark the anniversary.Sharaa’s Islamist-led alliance launched a lightning offensive in late November last year and took Damascus on December 8, bringing a sudden end to more than five decades of Assad family rule and over a decade of civil war.Jubilant crowds thronged the streets of the capital and other major cities, many people waving Syrian flags, AFP correspondents said, after mosques in the Old City began the day broadcasting celebratory prayers at dawn.”Today, with the dawn of freedom, we declare a historic break with that legacy, a complete dismantling of the illusion of falsehood, and a permanent departure from the era of despotism and tyranny, ushering in a bright new dawn — a dawn founded on justice, benevolence… and peaceful coexistence,” Sharaa said in a speech to mark the occasion.His speech was followed by continued celebrations across Syria with fireworks exploding above the massive crowds who chanted along to revolutionary songs played over loudspeakers.Sharaa also reaffirmed “our commitment to the principle of transitional justice to ensure accountability for all those who violated the law and committed crimes against the Syrian people”.Multi-confessional Syria’s fragile power transition has also been shaken by sectarian massacres in the country’s Alawite coastal heartland and deadly clashes in Druze-majority Sweida in the south.The authorities announced investigations after some government forces or allies were implicated in the violence.The civil war, which erupted in 2011 with the Assad government’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests, killed more than half a million people and displaced millions.Tens of thousands of people are still missing, many after disappearing into the former government’s prisons, with families awaiting justice for Assad-era atrocities.- ‘Like a miracle’ -“What happened over the past year seems like a miracle,” said Iyad Burghol, 44, a doctor, noting major developments including President Donald Trump’s embrace of Sharaa, a former jihadist who once had a US bounty on his head.After years of war and economic crisis, people need basics like electricity “but the most important thing to me is civil peace”, Burghol told AFP.Sharaa has made progress abroad like restoring Syria’s international standing and winning sanctions relief, but he faces major challenges at home including gaining people’s trust, guaranteeing security, rebuilding institutions and keeping his fractured country united.”The current phase requires the unification of efforts by all citizens to build a strong Syria, consolidate its stability, safeguard its sovereignty, and achieve a future befitting the sacrifices of its people,” Sharaa said following dawn prayers at Damascus’s famous Umayyad Mosque.Humanitarian worker Ghaith Tarbin, 50, expressed hope the government would now “prioritise civil peace” after years of war laid waste to swathes of the country. – Challenges ahead -Syria’s authorities have announced major investment deals including for infrastructure but most Syrians are yet to see major improvements.Security remains a persistent problem, and critics have accused the new government of marginalising minorities and failing to protect them.Some have called for decentralisation or self-determination, which Sharaa has staunchly opposed, insisting on a centralised state.Amnesty International said “the new government’s response to serious violations committed since they came to power… will be a litmus test of its commitment to pursuing justice and accountability”.Human Rights Watch said the authorities “have taken positive steps on justice, transparency, and rights but failed to prevent continued violence and atrocities”.In a statement, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that “what lies ahead is far more than a political transition; it is the chance to rebuild shattered communities and heal deep divisions” and forge a nation where all Syrians “can live securely, equally, and with dignity”.But not everybody was celebrating on Monday.An AFP correspondent said shops were shut in and around the coastal city of Jableh, where a prominent Alawite spiritual leader had urged members of the religious minority — to which the Assads belong — to boycott the celebrations in protest against the new authorities.In the country’s Kurdish-held northeast, the authorities announced a ban on public gatherings on Monday, citing security concerns.Under a deal agreed in March, the Kurdish administration was to integrate its institutions into the central government by year-end, but progress has stalled.In a statement on Monday, Kurdish authorities expressed support for the celebrations but condemned a video in which defence ministry personnel said they would reach the northeast.Israeli military operations and demands for a demilitarised zone in southern Syria are further challenges, despite ongoing negotiations between the two countries to address the security concerns of both sides. burs-mam-lg/nad/dcp/rmb

The parents of the last hostage in Gaza have been waiting for over two years for the return of their son, whom they described as “fighting to the last bullet” during Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.Now the mother of Ran Gvili says there is consensus in Israel that his body must be returned before the second phase of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip begins.”From everyone we speak to, we’re getting the promise that they won’t move to the second phase until they bring Rani back,” Talik Gvili, 55, told AFP at the family’s home in Meitar, a small town in southern Israel that is east of Gaza.”We are really, really hoping that this is truly what will happen,” she said.Gvili was an officer in Israel’s Yasam elite police unit who was 24 at the time of the attack by Hamas that triggered the war in the Palestinian territory.Under the terms of a US-sponsored ceasefire plan that entered into force between Israel and Hamas on October 10, the militant group committed to returning all the 48 hostages it held captive, of whom 20 were alive.Militants have so far returned 47.Palestinian militants had taken 251 people hostage during the 2023 attack.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he expected the second stage of the truce plan in the Palestinian territory to start shortly.The plan’s terms say the next phase should begin after the return of all living hostages and the remains of the deceased.The next step includes disarming Hamas and the further withdrawal of Israeli forces as a transitional authority is established in Gaza, and the deployment of an international stabilisation force.- ‘First to jump in’ -In October 2023, Gvili was on medical leave waiting for a shoulder operation.When he heard of the attack he decided to leave his home with his own gun. He was shot in the fighting at the Alumim kibbutz before he was taken to Gaza.Israeli authorities told Gvili’s parents in January 2024 that he had not survived his injuries but even today, the couple struggle to believe he is dead.”They claim he didn’t receive any (treatment) but we still have a tiny, tiny glimmer of hope,” said his father, Itzik Gvili, 61.Gvili’s face is everywhere in the area close to the Negev desert — on posters, roundabouts and in front of many villas.Under the portrait of the young man in uniform are the words “Hero of Israel”.”He ran to help, to save people,” his father said, wearing a T-shirt with a picture of his son riding a motorcycle.”Even though he was already injured before October 7. But that was Rani — always running forward, the first to help and the first to jump in,” he said.”He fought until the last bullet and then he was taken hostage,” Talik Gvili said.Soldiers and police officers who were there on October 7 said Ran fought in front of the entrance to Alumim kibbutz, before being shot and injured.”In a way, it fits him, to be the one to stay behind. So in a way, it helps us to accept this situation — but mainly because we have no choice. We didn’t choose to be the last ones,” his mother said. “But someone has to be the last, and it ended up being our family.”

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa vowed to usher in an era of justice and coexistence a year after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad, with tens of thousands taking to the streets to mark the anniversary.Sharaa’s Islamist-led alliance launched a lightning offensive in late November last year and took Damascus on December 8, bringing a sudden end to more than five decades of Assad family rule and over a decade of civil war.Jubilant crowds thronged the streets of the capital and other major cities, many people waving Syrian flags, AFP correspondents said, after mosques in the Old City began the day broadcasting celebratory prayers at dawn.”Today, with the dawn of freedom, we declare a historic break with that legacy, a complete dismantling of the illusion of falsehood, and a permanent departure from the era of despotism and tyranny, ushering in a bright new dawn — a dawn founded on justice, benevolence… and peaceful coexistence,” Sharaa said in a speech to mark the occasion.His speech was followed by continued celebrations across Syria with fireworks exploding above the massive crowds who chanted along to revolutionary songs played over loudspeakers.Sharaa also reaffirmed “our commitment to the principle of transitional justice to ensure accountability for all those who violated the law and committed crimes against the Syrian people”.Multi-confessional Syria’s fragile power transition has also been shaken by sectarian massacres in the country’s Alawite coastal heartland and deadly clashes in Druze-majority Sweida in the south.The authorities announced investigations after some government forces or allies were implicated in the violence.The civil war, which erupted in 2011 with the Assad government’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests, killed more than half a million people and displaced millions from their homes.Tens of thousands of people are still missing, many after disappearing into the former government’s prisons, with families awaiting justice for Assad-era atrocities.- ‘Like a miracle’ -“What happened over the past year seems like a miracle,” said Iyad Burghol, 44, a doctor, noting major developments including President Donald Trump’s embrace of Sharaa, a former jihadist who once had a US bounty on his head.After years of war and economic crisis, people need basics like electricity “but the most important thing to me is civil peace”, Burghol told AFP.Sharaa has made progress abroad like restoring Syria’s international standing and winning sanctions relief, but he faces major challenges at home including gaining people’s trust, guaranteeing security, rebuilding institutions and keeping his fractured country united.”The current phase requires the unification of efforts by all citizens to build a strong Syria, consolidate its stability, safeguard its sovereignty, and achieve a future befitting the sacrifices of its people,” Sharaa said following dawn prayers at Damascus’s famous Umayyad Mosque.He was wearing military garb as he did when he entered the capital a year ago.Humanitarian worker Ghaith Tarbin, 50, expressed hope the government would now “prioritise civil peace” after years of war laid waste to swathes of the country. – Challenges ahead -In October, the World Bank said Syria’s post-war reconstruction could cost up to $216 billion.Syria’s authorities have announced major investment deals including for infrastructure but most Syrians are yet to see major improvements.Security remains a persistent problem, and critics have accused the new government of marginalising minorities and failing to protect them.Some have called for decentralisation or self-determination, which Sharaa has staunchly opposed, insisting on a centralised state.Amnesty International said “the new government’s response to serious violations committed since they came to power… will be a litmus test of its commitment to pursuing justice and accountability”.Human Rights Watch said the authorities “have taken positive steps on justice, transparency, and rights but failed to prevent continued violence and atrocities”.In a statement, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that “what lies ahead is far more than a political transition; it is the chance to rebuild shattered communities and heal deep divisions” and forge a nation where all Syrians “can live securely, equally, and with dignity”.But not everybody was celebrating on Monday.An AFP correspondent said shops were shut in and around the coastal city of Jableh, where a prominent Alawite spiritual leader had urged members of the religious minority — to which the Assads belong — to boycott the celebrations in protest against the new authorities.In the country’s Kurdish-held northeast, the authorities announced a ban on public gatherings on Monday, citing security concerns.Under a deal agreed in March, the Kurdish administration was to integrate its institutions into the central government by year-end, but progress has stalled.Israeli military operations and demands for a demilitarised zone in southern Syria are further challenges, despite ongoing negotiations between the two countries to address the security concerns of both sides. burs-mam-lg/nad/dcp

The widow of slain Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi Monday filed a legal complaint in France accusing Saudi Arabia of using Israeli spyware to steal data from her phones before he was killed, her lawyers said.Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, whose husband was murdered at the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate in October 2018, alleged her data was in part stolen in France, where she landed repeatedly while working as an air hostess, according to a copy of the complaint seen by AFP.Citizen Lab, a specialised research body at the University of Toronto, found that her two telephones were infected by Pegasus, a tool made by Israel-based firm NSO Group, in April 2018, the complaint showed.It said the infection coincided with her interrogation at an airport in the United Arab Emirates, a staunch ally of Saudi Arabia. “It would be unthinkable not to establish a link between this interception (of information) and the actions that led to the murder” of her husband, attorneys William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth said in a joint statement to AFP.The French judiciary will now decide whether to investigate the complaint.Amnesty International in 2022 said it had identified 11 government clients of Pegasus, software that can reportedly switch on a target’s cell phone camera and microphone and access data on it, effectively turning the phone into a pocket spy.Khashoggi was a US resident who wrote critically about the kingdom as a columnist for The Washington Post.A US intelligence assessment in 2021 concluded that Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had ordered the operation to kill Khashoggi, who was murdered and dismembered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.But US President Donald Trump strenuously defended the prince last month when he visited Washington.The French legal complaint, which does not specifically target one party, comes after a US judge in October granted an injunction barring NSO Group from targeting WhatsApp users.The lawsuit, filed in late 2019, accused NSO Group of cyberespionage targeting journalists, lawyers, human rights activists and others using the encrypted messaging service.