(11 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Damascus, Syria – 11 December 2024
1. Wide of Bzouriyeh market
2. Various of spices and grains shops at market
3. Man sticking Free Syrian Army flag on shop door
4. People at market
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bakri Bakdash, trader:
"You can see that people’s smiles are now different from the past (during Assad’s rule). Thank God, Damascus and Syria as a whole have returned to what they used to be."
6. Entrance of Al-Hamidiyeh gate
7. Pigeons
8. Various of Umayyad Mosque
9. Various of opposition fighters posing for camera
10. Woman holding Free Syrian Army flag
11. People at mosque
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Issam Sukkar, general supervisor of Umayyad Mosque:
"We resumed our work immediately after the toppling of the former regime, and we have once again seen large numbers of visitors to the Umayyad Mosque, something we hadn’t seen even before 2011."
13. Various of people walking around, celebrating outside mosque
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Amjad (no last name given), opposition fighter:
"It has been 15 years since we were last able to enter the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, our capital, because of the unjust former regime. We cannot express our joy enough. I am a rebel from northern Syria, here to savor the moments we have waited for so long."
15. People holding Free Syrian Army flags, man speaking UPSOUND (Arabic): "Allah bless those who say ‘The glory of the Umayyads will return to Damascus’"
16. Worshippers inside mosque
STORYLINE:
Life slowly began returning to normalcy in Damascus on Wednesday, with some shops reopening and people strolling through markets.
At Bzouriyeh market, one of the famous spice and grain souks in the Syrian capital, shop owners and shoppers mingled among the colorful, old spice shops.
"You can see that people’s smiles are now different from the past. Thank God, Damascus and Syria as a whole have returned to what they used to be," said Bakri Bakdash, a spice trader who has worked in Bzouriyeh market for 45 years.
Banks and government institutions had also reopened. In public squares, some people were still celebrating.
Many were seen inside the Umayyad Mosque in downtown Damascus, particularly those from northern Syria, which was previously under opposition control and where many had been unable to visit.
Issam Sukkar, the general supervisor of the mosque, said the large number of visitors was "something we hadn’t seen even before 2011."
Meanwhile, thousands of displaced Syrians were returning home from neighboring countries, as Syria’s head of transitional cabinet Mohammed Al-Bashir called on those abroad to return.
The Syrian government of President Bashar Assad fell early Sunday in a stunning end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family after a sudden rebel offensive sprinted across government-held territory and entered the capital in 10 days.
AP Video shot by Abdulrahman Shaheen
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