Most newspapers on Monday focused on the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after an armed rebellion toppled his 24-year rule. The Financial Times called it a “breathtaking offensive” by the rebels. The Financial Times reported on the “euphoria” among Syrians, with 24-year-old Omar Seif saying: “Today, for the first time, I can breathe.”
“Assad fell…but what now?” is the question Metro asks. The newspaper, which said Moscow has supported the Syrian regime militarily in recent years, said Assad left after talks with “other actors in the conflict.” An image on the newspaper’s front page showed an insurrectionist sitting at the ousted president’s desk, which was still covered with maps.
i Accompanying a full-page photo of a woman waving a Syrian rebel flag above her head, the newspaper said the rebels were declaring “victory for the Islamic State.” People ransacked the presidential palace, while refugees from abroad crowded the country’s borders hoping to return home, the newspaper said.
A Daily Express headline said “Syria is happy” and refugees in neighboring Lebanon welcomed the coup. The newspaper reported that thousands of Syrians took to the streets chanting “Assad is gone.” The newspaper’s front-page picture showed Syrians raising their arms and smiling in triumph.
The Daily Mail posed a warning, “Can something worse happen?”. The report quoted U.S. President Joe Biden as saying that the fall of the Assad regime was “a moment of great risk and uncertainty,” which the newspaper attributed to the Syrian rebels’ “terrible record of terrorism.”
The Daily Telegraph said Israel “occupied border territory and bombed military targets” in Syria and said action was needed to curb new threats. Israel has occupied the Golan Heights – historically part of Syria – and has taken control of the buffer zone after Assad’s soldiers abandoned their posts.
The Guardian recalled “celebrations across Syria”, with crowds waving flags and toppling portraits and statues of Assad and his father, Hafez al-Assad. “Celebratory gunshots and car horns” echoed across the capital, the newspaper reported. The Guardian added that in addition to Assad’s family fleeing, the road connecting Damascus to the Lebanese capital Beirut was “lined with abandoned military uniforms.”
The Times showed a series of stills showing the toppling of a statue of Bashar al-Assad’s late father, former president Hafez al-Assad. The headline read, “Syrians hail Assad’s fall,” as rebels released prisoners – many held for opposing the regime. Among those freed were women and children, the Times said, adding that families across the country were hoping to find family members among the “tens of thousands” missing during Syria’s 13-year civil war.
Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror features the mother of Liz Hatton, a 17-year-old photographer and terminal cancer patient who embraced the Princess of Wales in October. Victoria Robayna thanked the princess for making her daughter’s “dream come true” in the final months before her death.
“It’s a windy season,” the Daily Star said, adding that winds of up to 70mph could cause travel chaos over Christmas. The newspaper said winds would “sweep in” from the Atlantic in the coming weeks.
