A Syrian journalist living in London says he hopes to return to his home city of Aleppo after the fall of the Assad regime.
Zouhir Al-Shimale, 33, who has lived in the UK since 2018, says he is happy that his country is finally free, but angry that the ousted president did not face justice in Syria.
President Bashar Assad fled to Moscow, Russian state media has reported, after rebels launched a major offensive against the government.
Mr Assad reportedly left Syria early on Sunday, and Syrians have been pouring onto the streets in celebration of the end of the Assad family’s 50-year reign.
Mr Al-Shimale joined hundreds of his fellow countrymen in Trafalgar Square in London on Sunday, to rejoice at the overthrow of a man who led his country through 13 years of a civil war which left half a million Syrians dead and displaced millions to countries around the world.
“It’s hard to describe it in one word, I feel happiness, joy and shock,” Mr Al-Shimale told the PA news agency.
“In contrast there is also rage and anger and frustration, having Assad leaving easily without being held to justice in Syria.”
Mr Al-Shimale, who reported from east Aleppo, when it was under siege, was forced out of his home in 2016 after Assad’s regime started carrying out chemical attacks on the city.
He initially moved to Idlib, in north-western Syria, and then on-to Turkey, before coming to the UK.
Mr Al-Shimale’s family, including his parents and younger sister, still live in Aleppo, where their home was bombed but is now being repaired.
“I haven’t seen my father for 13 or 14 years,” he said.
“We’ve been on non-stop calls over the last week.”
He plans to return to Aleppo soon, with his brothers, who also live in Europe, for a long-awaited family reunion.
“I want to go back to see and enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city centre, the shops, the restaurants and the people,” he said.
“I want to have a traditional meal in a cafe or in the famous souks and bazaars and smell the authentic scent of the Old City and the Citadel.
“I want to enjoy having a conversation with my friends about how the politics of the country are, without having to look around us to see if there’s someone coming to kind of kidnap us, or if intelligence is coming to chase us.”
Mr Al-Shimale said that while the future of his country is unknown there are “good indicators that political process and transition is under way”.
