The complex task for the rebels looking to rebuild Syria

The new rulers are taking control of institutions hollowed out by corruption and a devastated economy — amid a desire for revenge from some victims of Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian members of the rebel group celebrate during a demonstration following the first Friday prayers since Bashar al-Assad’s ouster. AP

Raya Jalabi and Sarah Dadouch

Dec 16, 2024 – 3.51pm

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Just over a week ago, Abdel Rahman was serving a 15-year sentence in a cramped cell in Syria’s notorious Saydnaya prison, after an altercation with a corrupt police officer last year in Damascus.

By Friday morning, he was in the ancient market of the old city selling the newly adopted green Syrian flag – the one anti-Assad rebels have flown during nearly 14 years of brutal civil conflict. At midday, he was able to listen to a sermon at the nearby mosque that called the deposed president Bashar al-Assad “a tyrant”.

Financial Times