Paris, France:

World powers vowed Sunday to work for stability in Syria and the surrounding region after Islamist-led rebels toppled its longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

Here is a round-up of key reactions:

High alert: Russia

Assad’s ally Moscow said Russian troops in Syria were on high alert but that the rebels had “guaranteed” the security of its army bases in the country.

Prior to reports that Assad had fled to Moscow, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that Syria must not be allowed to fall into the hands of a “terrorist group”.

‘Assad should be held accountable’: US

“We will engage with all Syrian groups… to establish a transition away from the Assad regime toward independent, sovereign” Syria, US President Joe Biden said.

Asked by reporters what should happen to the deposed president, who reportedly has fled to Moscow, Biden said that “Assad should be held accountable.”

‘Return to stability’: China

Beijing “is closely following the development of the situation in Syria and hopes that Syria returns to stability as soon as possible”, the foreign ministry said.

‘Friendly relations’: Iran

Iran’s foreign ministry said it expects “friendly” relations with Syria to continue.

It said it would adopt “appropriate approaches” towards Syria in accordance with the behaviour of “effective actors” in Damascus.

‘Heal wounds’: Turkey

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his country, which has supported rebel movements in Syria, would help “to heal Syria’s wounds and guarantee its unity, integrity and security”.

‘Cautious hope’: UN

The UN envoy for Syria called the rebel takeover “a watershed moment” for the country marred by nearly 14 years of civil war.

“Today we look forward with cautious hope to the opening of a new (chapter) — one of peace, reconciliation, dignity and inclusion for all Syrians,” special envoy Geir Pedersen said.

End to ‘barbaric’ state: France

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s “barbaric state” in Syria.

“I pay tribute to the Syrian people, to their courage, to their patience. In this moment of uncertainty, I send them my wishes for peace, freedom, and unity,” he wrote on X.

‘Contribute’: Germany

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who welcomed the fall of Assad as “good news”, said Germany was ready to “bring its contribution” to a political solution to bring peace back to the war-stricken country, without specifying further.

“Bashar Al-Assad has oppressed his own people in a brutal manner, he has countless lives on his conscience,” said the German head of state.

‘Work together’: UAE

A senior United Arab Emirates official urged Syrians to collaborate in order to avert a spiral into chaos.

“We hope that the Syrians will work together, that we don’t just see another episode of impending chaos,” presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain.

‘Peace and stability’: UK

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for a peaceful and stable Syria, urging the protection of civilians and minorities.

Arriving in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, the premier said he was “talking to regional allies”, calling the removal of Assad a “real opportunity”.

‘Long-awaited’: EU

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen likewise said the EU would help to rebuild “a Syrian state that protects all minorities”.

The EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas hailed Assad’s fall as “a positive and long-awaited development” which “also shows the weakness of Assad’s backers, Russia and Iran”.

Blow to Iran: Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Assad’s overthrow as the fall of a “central link in Iran’s axis of evil”.

He called it “a direct result of the blows we have inflicted on Iran and Hezbollah”, the group that Israel has been bombarding in Lebanon.

Don’t rely on Putin: Ukraine

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga welcomed Assad’s departure, saying that authoritarians who rely on support from Putin are destined to fall, while stressing Kyiv’s support for Syria’s people.

‘Relief’: Netherlands

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof called Assad’s overthrow “a relief to all those who suffered under his cruel dictatorship”. 

Schoof urged a “peaceful transition and the restoration of stability, while ensuring respect for all the country’s minorities”. 

Independent Islamic government: Taliban

Afghanistan’s Taliban government congratulated the Syrian people and rebels, hoping a transition would lead to “an independent and service-oriented Islamic government” and a Syria “free from external interference”.

‘Free will’: Iraq

Iraq urged respect for the “free will of all Syrians and emphasises that the security, territorial integrity and independence of Syria are of paramount importance”, government spokesman Basim Alawadi said.

‘Immense needs’: Red Cross

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said that Syrians faced “immense and urgent needs” after “immense suffering” caused by more than a decade of conflict.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Beirut:

Rebel forces pressing a lightning offensive in Syria aim to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad’s rule, their Islamist leader said in an interview published on Friday.

The Islamist-led rebels were at the gates of Syria’s Homs, a war monitor said, after wresting other key cities from government control.

In little over a week, the offensive has seen Syria’s second city Aleppo and strategically located Hama fall from President Bashar al-Assad’s control for the first time since the civil war began in 2011.

Should the rebels capture Homs, that would cut the seat of power in the capital Damascus from the Mediterranean coast, a key bastion of the Assad clan, which has ruled Syria for the past five decades.

By Friday morning, the rebels were just five kilometres (three miles) from the edge of Homs, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.

Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel alliance, said the goal of the offensive was to overthrow Assad’s rule.

“When we talk about objectives, the goal of the revolution remains the overthrow of this regime. It is our right to use all available means to achieve that goal,” Jolani told CNN in an interview.

The rebel alliance conducting the offensive that began on November 27 is led by HTS, which is rooted in the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda but has sought to moderate its image in recent years.

The rebels launched their offensive in northern Syria the same day a ceasefire took effect in the war between Israel and Lebanese group Hezbollah, which along with Russia and Iran have been crucial backers of Assad’s government.

Turkey, which has backed the opposition, on Friday said its Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan would meet with his Russian and Iranian counterparts this weekend in Qatar to discuss the situation in Syria.

– Fear –

Fearing the rebels’ advance, tens of thousands of members of Assad’s Alawite minority were fleeing Homs on Thursday, residents and the Observatory said.

Khaled, who lives on the city’s outskirts, told AFP that “the road leading to (coastal) Tartus province was glowing… due to the lights of hundreds of cars on their way out”.

Homs was the scene of a months-long government siege of opposition areas and deadly sectarian attacks in the early years of the civil war.

Early in the war, which began with Assad’s brutal crackdown on democracy protests, activists referred to the city as “the capital of the revolution” against the government.

Syrians who were forced out of the country by the crackdown on the revolt were glued to their phones as they watched the developments unfold.

“We’ve been dreaming of this for more than a decade,” said Yazan, a 39-year-old former activist who survived the siege and is now living as a refugee in France.

Asked whether he was worried about HTS’s Islamist agenda, he said: “It doesn’t matter to me who is conducting this. The devil himself could be behind it. What people care about is who is going to liberate the country.”

On the other side of the sectarian divide, however, there was fear among Homs’s Alawite community.

Haidar, 37, who lives in an Alawite-majority neighbourhood, told AFP by telephone that “fear is the umbrella that covers Homs now”.

“I’ve never seen this scene in my life. We are extremely afraid, we don’t know what is happening.”

On Friday, the rebel alliance “entered the cities of Rastan and Talbisseh” on the main road between Hama and Homs, the Observatory said.

The factions were faced with “a total absence” of government forces, it added.

Footage posted on social media and verified by AFP showed rebels firing into the air as they drove through Talbisseh.

The Syrian defence ministry said the army launched strikes against “terrorist” fighters in Hama province.

The Syrian Observatory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, said 826 people, mostly combatants but also including 111 civilians, have been killed since the offensive began last week.

The United Nations said that the violence has displaced 280,000 people, warning that numbers could swell to 1.5 million.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said there was a “massive exodus of Syrian Alawites from parts of Homs, tens of thousands are heading towards the Syrian coast, fearing the rebels’ advance”.

– ‘Massive blow’ –

Many of the scenes witnessed in recent days would have been unimaginable earlier in the war.

The rebels announced on Telegram their capture of Hama following street battles with government forces, describing it as “the complete liberation of the city”.

Many residents turned out to welcome the rebel fighters. An AFP photographer saw some residents set fire to a giant poster of Assad on the facade of city hall.

The army admitted losing control of the city, though Defence Minister Ali Abbas insisted that its withdrawal was a “temporary tactical measure”.

In a video posted online, HTS leader Jolani said his fighters had entered Hama to “cleanse the wound that has endured in Syria for 40 years”, referring to an army massacre in the 1980s.

In another message on Telegram congratulating “the people of Hama on their victory,” he used his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, instead of his nom de guerre for the first time.

Aron Lund, a fellow of the Century International think tank, called the loss of Hama “a massive, massive blow to the Syrian government”.

Should Assad lose Homs, it wouldn’t mean the end of his rule, Lund said, but “with no secure route from Damascus to the coast, I’d say it’s over as a credible state entity.”

UN chief Antonio Guterres said Thursday that the escalation in Syria is the result of a “chronic collective failure” of diplomacy.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)