Syrians celebrate regime’s fall across the nation

To be honest, this moment is indescribable,

Kamal said

The unity of Syria is an ambition that we will pass on to our children and the future generations. They will know that the sanctity of the homeland is part of the sanctity of humanity,

he said in an interview

Bashar al-Assadpresident

We welcome any president for Syria, whether it's a Sunni, an Alawite or Christian, as long as the people choose him,

he added, referring to Assad's Alawite ethnic and religious group

This is a call for all the loyal people of Syria. We have to put our hands in each other’s hands; we have to collaborate and come together to build Syria,

he says, his voice cracking

I can’t believe I’m sitting here in front of the military judicial building, on a broken picture of Assad, hearing the chants of a free Syria. It’s like a dream,

added his friend Abu Osman al-Shami, 30

I was just 15 when I left Damascus. I saw my mother for the first time two days ago. It was indescribable. She didn’t recognise me,

says Abu Hussein, who spent a year in a regime jail in the southern town of Deraa in 2011, where he said they subjected him to electric shocks

We have entered a new stage of work. Rescuing people’s lives won’t stop. We have to keep going and help people rebuild their lives.”

He add

I don’t remember a world without war. I grew up in this revolution and civil conflict,

she adds

To return this majestic country to its majestic position among the nations,

he adds

We are not used to freedom. I don’t know what we are going to do with it, it’s such a new feeling … But now this is our country, not Assad’s.”

Taseer Abdul Rahman, 29, said

It was 14 years of hell and this week is the best of that whole time,

said Hanan Hadi, 55, referring to the regime’s crackdown on peaceful Arab spring protests and the bloody civil war that followed

We must be united in our fight for human rights and helping each other make Syria a light among nations again,

he said, voice cracking with emotion

Unified Syria to build Syria,

the crowd chanted in Damascus' Umayyad Square

There is a good government now, and God willing, corruption will be gone. We lived in Idlib under this government and there is no corruption there."

Wardan Aoun, a fighter from Idlib, said

I invite them to head to the squares to show their happiness without shooting bullets and scaring people,

he said

This is the first time we have converged in such big numbers and the first time we are seeing such an event,

she said, beaming with joy

I can't describe my feelings. Our morale is very high and we hope that Syria will head towards a better future, ... People were stifled... but now the doors have opened to us."

he said, adding

We are gathering because we're happy Syria has been freed, we're happy to have been liberated from the prison in which we lived,

said Nour Thi al-Ghina, 38

It was my dream to come to Damascus,

the tailor said

Let's not discuss details that might separate us now and focus only on what brings us together: our hatred for Bashar al-Assad,

said Amina Maarawi, 42, an Islamic preacher wearing a white hijab