Syria: Bashar al-Assad regime overthrown, claim rebel forces

The Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad fell on Sunday after armed rebel forces entered the capital city of Damascus, bringing an end to the al-Assad family’s 50-year rule in the country, reported AP.

Opposition groups claimed that Assad had fled the capital and that his whereabouts were unknown.

Syrian state television broadcast a video in which a group of men declared that “tyrant al-Assad has been toppled” and that all prisoners have been freed from the prisons of Damascus, reported Al Jazeera. Opposition groups urged their combatants and citizens to protect Syria’s public infrastructure.

Assad ruled Syria for nearly 25 years, beginning in July 2000 after the death of his father Hafez al-Assad, who had been the country’s president since 1971.

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali said in a video statement that the government was willing to “extend its hand” to opposition groups and transfer its functions to a transitional government.

Jalali also called for free and fair elections to allow the Syrian people to choose the next elected government.

“I am in my house and I have not left, and this is because of my belonging to this country,” Jalali said. He said he would go to his office to continue work in the morning and called on Syrian citizens not to deface public...

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