Rebel fighters standing next to the burning gravesite of Syria's late president Hafez al-Assad at his mausoleum in Latakia province, after it was stormed by opposition factions. Photo: AAREF WATAD / AFP
The tomb of ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's father Hafez has been torched in his hometown of Qardaha, with rebel fighters in fatigues and young men watching it burn.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor told AFP the rebels had set fire to the mausoleum, located in the Latakia heartland of Assad's Alawite community.
AFP footage shot on Wednesday showed parts of the mausoleum ablaze and damaged, with the tomb of Hafez torched and destroyed.
The vast elevated structure atop a hill has an intricate architectural design with several arches, its exterior embellished with ornamentation etched in stone.
It also houses the tombs of other Assad family members, including Bashar's brother Bassel, who was being groomed to inherit power before he was killed in a road accident in 1994.
On Sunday, a lightning offensive by Islamist-led rebels seized key cities before reaching Damascus and forcing Assad to flee, ending more than 50 years of his family's rule.
Golani vows to punish those responsible for torture under Assad
Meanwhile, the main commander of the fighters who toppled Bashar al-Assad said anyone involved in the torture or killing of detainees during the ousted Syrian president's rule would be hunted down, and pardons were out of the question.
"We will pursue them in Syria, and we ask countries to hand over those who fled so we can achieve justice," Abu Mohammed al-Golani said in a statement published on the Syrian state TV's Telegram channel.
The world is carefully watching to see if Syria's new rulers can stabilise the country and avoid unleashing violent revenge, after a 13-year civil war fought along sectarian and ethnic lines destroyed the country.
Syria ran one of the most oppressive police states in the Middle East during five decades of Assad family rule. Golani, whose former al Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is now the country's most powerful force, must balance demands for justice from victims with the need to prevent violent reprisals and secure international aid.
Mohammad al-Bashir, the man installed by Golani's fighters to lead an interim administration, said he aimed to bring back millions of refugees, create unity and provide basic services. But rebuilding would be daunting with little funding on hand.
"In the coffers there are only Syrian pounds worth little or nothing. One US dollar buys 35,000 of our coins," Bashir told Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera.
"We have no foreign currency and as for loans and bonds we are still collecting data. So yes, financially we are very bad," said Bashir, who previously ran a small rebel-led administration in a pocket of northwestern Syria.
Rebuilding Syria is a colossal task following a civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people, reduced cities to ruins, depopulated the countryside and left the economy gutted by international sanctions. Millions of refugees still live in camps after one of the biggest displacements of modern times.
- AFP/Reuters