'Feels like dream': Syrians in London celebrate fall of Assad regime

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) – Syrians gathered in central London on Sunday to celebrate the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime and distribute sweets after armed opposition groups took control of the capital Damascus.

A group of Syrians gathered at Trafalgar Square to celebrate "Free Syria," vowing to return to their homeland.

Carrying Syrian opposition flags, the crowd cheered Bashar al-Assad's departure and the end of his draconian regime by shouting slogans and singing songs.

During the gathering, a participant from Aleppo, Saffan Amir, distributed sweets known as Basbousa to other attendees, encouraging them to "do everything" they could to celebrate it and make "all people happy."

Amir told Anadolu that Syrians are overjoyed and relieved because "we've gotten what we want."

"All people in Syria were struggling under that regime, that brutal regime, who killed, tortured, and took power for him and his family, nothing for Syria," he said.

Amir noted that today they share happiness so that it "will cover the world and go to the moon and beyond."

- 'Assad has to end up in The Hague'

Georgia Scott, whose husband, Obaida Fahed, is from Homs, called the current situation in Syria "absolutely incredible."

"I'm so happy for the people of Syria. I'm so proud of their resistance and their resilience to fight for freedom," she added.

On prisoners’ release, Scott said she could not imagine how relieved the Syrian families would be whose loved ones were incarcerated and now released by anti-regime forces.

"If I put myself in their shoes, I can't believe the relief that they must feel and so well deserve what they've been through."

She also expressed her hope that Bashar al-Assad "has to end up in The Hague," and be punished for what he has done.

Scott said she met her husband in Beirut but has not yet visited Syria and that she and her husband will "absolutely" return to Syria together.

"And I will discover his beautiful country and celebrate with the whole of Syria," she vowed.

- 'We'll go back, rebuild everything again'

Fahed, for her part, told Anadolu that the Syrian people's dream of a "free country" has come true with the fall of the Assad regime.

"We still feel like (we are in) a dream, but it came true. Now we are finally, like, we have a free country… hopefully, we'll go back and just rebuild everything again," he noted.

Fahed said he has been outside of Syria for nearly 12 years and that they plan to return and rebuild their country.

When asked if he thought something like this could happen before, he said he could not have believed it even a couple of days ago.

"It still feels like a dream," he said with joy on his face.

In discussions about Syria's future, Fahed said any country has issues, but the important thing is that everyone must work together to make Syria a better place.

Over 10 days, opposition forces launched a lightning offensive, capturing key cities and then, on Sunday, the capital Damascus. The rapid advance, supported by defecting military units, led to the collapse of the Assad regime after 13 years of civil war.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Assad decided to step down and leave Syria without saying where he traveled.