Lebanese figure meets Syrian insurgent who led Assad’s overthrow

BEIRUT — A prominent Lebanese politician spoke Sunday with the insurgent who led the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad, with both expressing hope for a new era in relations between their countries.

Druze leader Walid Jumblatt is the most prominent Lebanese politician to visit Syria since the end of Assad family rule two weeks ago. Jumblatt has long criticized Syria’s involvement in Lebanon and accuses Assad’s father, former leader Hafez Assad, of being responsible for his own father’s assassination.

He spoke with Ahmad al Sharaa, who led Sunni Islamist rebels who invaded Damascus earlier this month and forced the younger Assad from power.

Now wearing a suit and tie, Al Sharaa met with diplomats and others from across the region and beyond as Assad’s fall reshapes alliances and brings hope to many Syrians long stifled after more than 13 years of civil war and international sanctions.

“We salute the Syrian people for their great victories and we salute you for the fight you have led to get rid of the oppression and tyranny that lasted more than 50 years,” said Jumblatt, a key figure in the Druze minority in Lebanon.

He expressed hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations “will return to normal.”

Jumblatt’s father, Kamal, was killed in 1977 in an ambush near a Syrian roadblock during the Syrian military intervention in Lebanon’s civil war.

“Syria was a source of concern and unrest, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” Al Sharaa said, referring to the Assad government. “Syria will no longer be a case of negative interference in Lebanon,” he added.

Al Sharaa also reiterated long-standing allegations that Assad’s government was behind the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which was followed by other assassinations of prominent Lebanese critics of Assad.

Last year, the United Nations closed an international tribunal investigating the assassination after convicting in absentia three members of Lebanese Hezbollah – an ally of Assad. Hezbollah has denied involvement in the bombing that killed Hariri and 21 others.

“We hope that all those who committed crimes against the Lebanese will be held accountable and that fair trials will be held for those who committed crimes against the Syrian people,” Jumblatt said.

Iranian leader predicts difficulties for new Syrian leaders

Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader said young Syrians would resist the new government that would emerge after Assad’s overthrow, again accusing the United States and Israel of sowing chaos in the country.

Iran has provided crucial support to Assad throughout Syria’s civil war, which erupted after he launched a violent crackdown on a popular uprising. Syria has long served as a key conduit for Iranian aid to Hezbollah.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech on Sunday that “the young Syrian has nothing to lose” and suffers from insecurity following the fall of Assad.

“What can he do?” He must firmly oppose those who designed and implemented insecurity,” Khamenei said. He also accused the United States and Israel of plotting against Assad’s government to seize resources.

Iran and its militant allies in the region have suffered major setbacks over the past year, with Israel defeating Hamas in Gaza and dealing heavy blows to Hezbollah before agreeing to a ceasefire in Lebanon last month. last.

Khamenei has denied that these groups are proxies for Iran, saying they are fighting because of their beliefs. “If we ever consider taking action, we don’t need proxy force,” he said.

Preserving evidence of crimes

The head of a U.N.-backed team investigating crimes committed during the civil war said it was working with the country’s new authorities in hopes of preserving evidence discovered after Assad’s ouster.

“We are pleased to have been invited to come and dialogue with the authorities,” Robert Petit declared on Sunday, describing the meeting as “constructive”.

As journalists, researchers and the public flock to former detention centers and mass grave sites, many are expressing fears that evidence will be recovered or destroyed.

Wafa Mustafa, a Syrian activist whose father Ali disappeared in 2013 in Damascus, said that “no one can tell the families what happened without evidence, without research, without work, without effort.”

Returning Syrians search for destroyed homes

The civil war in Syria has created millions of refugees and thousands have begun returning home. In a gray field of rubble outside Damascus, Alaa Badawi, a returnee, worked with a shovel looking for traces of his home.

His community, Qaboun, was an anti-government center and many of its buildings were razed under Assad’s administration.

“What is our house?” What is our driveway? There is nothing visible,” Badawi said.

He and others decided to do a little digging here and there to look for the house’s distinctive tiles. “We finally found out it was our home,” he said. “I don’t know at that time if I was happy to have located the house among the rubble or if I was upset because the house didn’t exist.”

Ziad al Hilli, one of many people released from prison as Assad fled to Russia, has been unable to return to his home and family.

Aljoud writes for the Associated Press. Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.