we examine what impact his new administration might have on the region. hello, i'm carl nasman. welcome to this special half—hour programme on syria. we'll look at the experiences of people in the country and ask what the fall of bashar al—assad's government means for the middle east. and we'll consider what the return of donald trump to the white house means for a syria witnessing unprecedented change. it's been an extraordinary — and, until last weekend unthinkable — day of celebrations across syria to mark the downfall of the former president bashar al—assad and the end of more than 50 years of his family's grip on the country. this was the scene in homs while this was the scene in damascus.

huge crowds converged in the capital after the first friday prayers since islamist rebels took control. singing, chanting, and fireworks have been continuing into the night there. our international editor jeremy bowen sent this report from damascus. this ancient city has seen countless upheavals overfive millennia. for modern syria, though, with its old flag restored, nothing matches the fall of the assads. the end of the first week without an assad in charge since 1970 brought thousands of syrians into the umayyad mosque to thank god for their deliverance. all chant. the chant is, "the people want the execution of "bashar". chanting continues. the regime's collapse and liberation from assad's brutal security state are powering a sense of great optimism. for all the people here, this puts the seal on it — this is absolute proof that they have won and the regime has gone.

just flying one of these black, white and green flags a couple of weeks ago could've got you arrested, jail time, or even a bullet. the fighters of hay�*at tahrir al—sham — hts — are still basking in their achievement. that white flag used by syrian islamist fighters was also behind the new prime minister in a broadcast. hts insists it's renounced its former extremist ideology. some syrians do not believe them. samir, overwhelmed, back from britain after 44 years, is hoping for a tolerant future. it is our country, this is not al—assad country. he is gone now. i don't know how we are going to resolve it. he has been corrupting this country for 50 years but these are the people who are going to build the country, so wish us the luck —

everyone in the world. and please, please, leave us alone. leave us alone, 0k? we appreciate your support but we don't want anyone to interfere with our decisions, what we are going to do. this is their decision. syria's future is full of challenges. hts is an islamist group. what will that mean for girls and for women? how do syrians getjustice for the regime's crimes? they meant it when they called they meant it when they called for assad's execution for assad's execution before the prayer. before the prayer. their new rulers told them their new rulers told them to celebrate the blessed to celebrate the blessed revolution, so they did. revolution, so they did. syrians understand that it syrians understand that it won't be easy to overcome 50 won't be easy to overcome 50 years of dictatorship years of dictatorship and 1a years of war, and 1a years of war, but this was a day but this was a day to seize and enjoy. to seize and enjoy. thousands converged thousands converged on umayyad square in the centre of damascus. on umayyad square in the centre of damascus. it's as if an enormous weight it's as if an enormous weight has been lifted off a nation. has been lifted off a nation. i have never seen so many i have never seen so many smiling people in syria. smiling people in syria.

we are free! we are feeling... we are free! we are feeling... we are free! we are free! ..the feelings of freedom! we never feel like this. i want all the world to see us! we are free now. south, north — we are free! the fighters are the heroes now, bringing their kids, posing for photos with other peoples. but when the party is over, people need to eat in an economy smashed by war and corruption. i asked this woman and her daughters what they need. just needed freedom to do. bo taxes, no stolen money taken from us. —— no taxes, no stolen money taken from us. just we want to be independent. we want to be an independent people. syria is an independent country. nobody controls us. nobody can rule us — just the syrians themselves. it's too soon for firm answers to syria's problems but the placards set an agenda — bring the assads to justice,

civil rights for all, and syria is for every syrian, no matter who they are. jeremy bowen, bbc news, damascus. earlier i spoke to sarah hunaidi, a writer and human rights advocate who left syria ten years ago after receiving threats from the assad regime. we've been seeing these celebrations on the streets. just remarkable images.

to but because this is the first time that they are free to kind of go on the street and say the word "freedom" without being shot at. everyone that i speak with is happy but at the same time, it's complicated because we have a lot of loved ones that are still disappeared. syria has more than 130,000 people who are detained or disappeared, the majority of them on the hands of the syrian regime, and we've only seen a couple of thousand freed and we want to know the fate of the rest. yeah, even amid the celebrations, of course, that search for loved ones does continue to go on. do you have a sense from speaking to people in syria what daily life is now like? how have things changed there since the assad regime fell? a lot of the fear is broken. it used to be a police state, police everywhere. now, people feel like they have ownership of their streets.

people are cleaning the streets because they feel like this is finally our country. and we also see people are cussing the regime because they finally can. we used to believe the walls have ears and now, the sky is the limit. people are daring to dream again of a democracy and of a syria for all. so, the sentiment in syria right now is very hopeful but also, there is some chaos insuing, of course. people still have a lot of unanswered questions. but overall, we feel that we can have a say in syria's future. speaking of unanswered questions — the main rebel group hts is an islamist group and it has former ties ties to al-qaeda. i know you consider yourself a feminist. how much does the ideology, then, of this main rebel group concern you ? it is concerning but i would give it

back to you. no—one has cared about the feminism and syrian women's body when a side was bombing us for the past 14 years — sorry, even, you know, his rule, the past 2a years. so right now, ifeel like everybody is suddenly concerned about women's bodies. we do have a lot of challenges to work through as syrians and i do not trust hts as a feminist and as a woman but at the same time, i feel like the syrian community, we have been learning a lot in the past 14 years, since — even 13, since the syrian revolution started. we are learning how to practise politics, we are learning how to accept each other, so — and they have been trying to give off a lot of, you know, kind of — they've been telling everyone that we will respect

the diversity of the syrian people. right. i hope they follow through with that because if they don't, they will see a lot of resistance. well, looking ahead now and many people like yourself who have left the country, orfled syria, do you expect them to now return home, and do you think that syria is in a position right now to be able to welcome them? yes. everybody is already returning home. i cannot wait to go back home — if only i have a passport, because i could not really renew my passport. but syria is for syrians and the only one who has been standing between us and our country has been the assad regime, so you can see a lot of footage of people going back. honestly, the neighbouring countries and the international community, we have been through so much. we have put ourselves in dangerous situations in order to cross the seas to a safe place and now that syria is promising

and is a safe place, a lot of people are coming back and i've — all of my friends who have been in syria's neighbouring countries who have now gotten passports are already on their way back and some of them have already made it back and i'm just waiting to see how i can renew my syrian passport. i'm glad i didn't burn it because i almost did! i want to go back, for sure. the un says that after the fall of assad, the world is witnessing a reshaping of the middle east. iran's influence in the region is diminishing while turkey has announced it will reopen its embassy in damascus for the first time in more than a decade. the united states is calling for stability, saying it's working to prevent a resurgence of islamic state. and israel is still bombing parts of syria after seizing control of a demilitarised buffer zone in the occupied golan heights. earlier, i spoke to the american diplomatjames jeffrey. he's been the ambassador to iraq and turkey and most recently an envoy in syria.

ambassador, great to have you on the programme. there seems to be, of course, many different neighbours there in the region that are interested in trying to shape the future syria, the direction the country may be going in. is there a country you think may be actually able to wield some power and some influence over syria in the coming weeks and months? first, thanks for having me on. second, this is, before all of the mess that we will talk about, a great day for the syrian people. it's a great day for regional stability as iran and russia reel back. now, the country that exercises the most latent of potential power is the united states. we have troops on the ground, we are very close partners to the turks, the israelis and the arab states who are the other major outside players and, of course, the un, which has a formal role in trying to put all of this back together. so, i would say the us remains the most important and influential player. we saw, didn't we, this visit by the us secretary

of state antony blinken to iraq, seemingly trying to get arab partners on board, speaking with his turkish allies as well. is that the kind of coalition you think could wield some sort of influence in steering what blinken said he wants to see a democracy in syria. right, well, we have a whole series, first of all. you also have jake sullivan, the national security advisor, who was just in israel. he is going on, pushing for a gaza ceasefire because all of this is related. this is all a set of dominoes that were launched by hamas's attack on october seven. and the decisions made by the us, iran, israel and others since then. but, yeah, we're trying to put some kind of regional position on syria so we can speak with one voice. obviously, it is aspirational, a democracy, reconciliation inclusive.

but, you know, as bad as iraq was in many ways and as difficult a situation as iran has been trying to encroach on the iraqi institutions and system, iraq has much of that today. it's not messy but bosnia isn't very pretty, either, but they are both a hell of a lot better than yemen or libya or a lot of other places, so we can hope for something like that with syria, i believe. you described the region as really a set of dominoes. let's talk about a few of those dominoes now. firstly, iran. it poured so many resources, didn't it, into syria? this was a crucial piece of its strategy in the region. what do you think this all means for iran and how do you think iran may respond? well, as jake sullivan said in israel earlier today, this is a geostrategic game changer. there is a huge new situation emerging because iran, for 20 years, through its proxies, was advancing

through the arab world. the shia crescent, king abdul ofjordan called it — iraq, syria, lebanon, yemen, gaza. and most of these have collapsed. most importantly, hezbollah, where iran put a lot of emphasis. iran's offensive offensive capability, missile systems, were seen to be ineffective in its ability to defend against israel, effectively zero, and now syria has gone and i cannot overemphasise how important a development this is for the region. israel, of course, also shares a border with syria we know its troops are going to be staying through the winter inside of what is meant to be a buffer zone between the two nations. do you think that israel also sees this as a bit of an opportunity perhaps? it does. first of all, the destruction of the syrian air defence systems, which the israelis finished off last couple of days, gives them

extraordinary capabilities to strike even more effectively against iran. secondly, israel is in a better position to ensure that iran does not, in some way, shape orform rebuild its rat lines of missile supply and other weapons to hezbollah. this will very much strengthen the ceasefire that is now in place in lebanon. it is leaving hezbollah without the option to rearm, which is what it did after the last ceasefire in 2006 with the iranians's help. the iranians will not have an easy way to get there. before i let you go, if we could move around the map here. russia — we have seen some satellite images that appear to show it may be packing up, it may be on track to leave syria altogether. would that surprise you, if russia just kind of up and left? what's going on is, from my information, is yes, the russians are packing up on the assumption they could well leave.

but meanwhile, they are negotiating probably with the turks, almost certainly with the local authorities — the hayat tahrir al—sham people — to try to cut some deal to stay. whether they will and under what conditions, we will have to see but with or without those bases, this is a huge defeat for putin as well. the incoming us president donald trump has already been weighing in on events in syria. he has said, "syria is not our fight" and in a social media post just before the fall of assad, he said "syria "is a mess but it is not the us�*s friend". hay�*at tahrir al—sham — also known as hts — is currently designated a terrorist organisation by the united states. with so many groups involved in the syrian transition — each with their own backers — the future for the country is uncertain. i examined what impact a new administration in washington could have on syria and the wider region

with former us ambassador to syria robert ford, who is now at the middle east institute. and shannon felton spence, a political strategist at a harvard university think tank. i want to start with you, shannon, just to talk about what donald trump said on social media, essentially saying this is not ourfight — let it play out, don't get involved. is it going to be that simple for the next trump administration? so, what donald trump says on truth social is not always what ends up coming to be. certainly, that is sort of the line that he was campaigning on but now that he will be president in, you know, in less than a month, he is unburdened by having to seek re—election — he will be in his second term — and donald trump has shown quite isolationist tendencies. like i said, he campaigned on that. but it's not really clear yet from his cabinet who will have his ear. it's not even really clearfrom his cabinet what his doctrine is going to be because you have the secretary of state nominee as marco rubio who is quite

a bit more hawkish than donald trump is. and then you have pete hegseth, who is almost a complete unknown, but i think it stands to reason would share the view with donald trump that boots on the ground, more boots on the ground, rather, is a complete red line. so, we don't really know what will happen because we don't know who has his ear is his second term and he will have already formed many opinions about the region and about syria itself in his first term. ambassador, second term for donald trump — how do you read his doctrine when it comes to syria? i think there is a broader doctrine that president trump operates by, which is be very careful about intervening militarily as a general rule. with respect to syria, it's not clear why the united states would get involved. there isn't even a permanent

government in syria here, —— there isn't even a permanent government in syria yet, there isn't even transitional government. there is only a temporary government between now and march 1, if they keep to their own schedule. and we don't know what the syrian government is going to do, what its foreign policy is going to be. we don't really understand what its domestic politics are going to look like. the one place where the americans have troops on the ground in syria is eastern syria, where the turks have much larger interests than we do and the turks are ready to fight for them. and i would be a little surprised if donald trump ramps up the american troop presence in order to fight for syrian kurdish autonomy — that seems a little hard to imagine. right. and just on that base — and shannon, to bring you back in here — hundreds of american boots on the ground, much to do with countering the islamic the islamic state, some deterring iran.

where do you see the future of that base? is it something that donald trump may take some troops out of syria? i don't think that donald trump take troops out but it's only because he was convinced out of it during his first term. so, donald trump is quite proud of the fact — and i think he set on meet the press last week — that he defeated isis and he defeated isis swiftly, so this is something that he thinks is a good thing to have american troops sort of there, keeping isis at bay. so, you know, i have no view into his military thinking or strategy but i know that he is quite proud of that accomplishment from his first term. let's talk about another issue that could involve the us — this has to do with syria's chemical weapons. the bbc has been speaking with mallory stewart — she is the assistant secretary of state for the bureau of arms control, deterrence, and stability at the us department of state. she said there were stockpiles of chemical weapons in syria.

take a listen. even throughout the process of the syrian government joining the chemical weapons convention, we have been concerns that remaining stockpiles, remaining facilities and equipment were not declared and, in fact, that was borne out through the course of the syrian civil war in 19 confirmed cases. —— of the syrian civil war in 19 confirmed cases of continuing chemical weapons used by the assad regime. and the 0pcw, the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons, has 19 outstanding questions with respect to that declared stockpile. so we know that there is existing stockpile material not declared, we know there is existing capacity for the equipment, and that is a deep concern for the us government and the international community. ambassador, to come back to you, it could be there are still some chemical weapons accounted for in syria and, in fact, we saw donald trump take military action in syria, didn't we, back in 2017, ordering air strikes in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack that asaad wanted on his own people?

there isn't any question that the syrian government maintained a chemical weapons programme despite the 2013 deal. —— the 2013 deal between the united states and russia. and the syrian government. ratified later by the united nations security council resolution. the syrian government violated those agreements, violated the terms of the security council resolution. the russians defended the syrian government nonetheless. that's all history. going forward, what is interesting to me — actually, remarkable to me — is that the group hts, which is on the american foreign terrorist organisation list, has publicly stated that not only will it not use chemical weapons but it invited the united nations and the international community to come in to any suspected sites and help secure them

and help dispose of them. and that is a public offer which i hope perhaps the united nations people are pursuing with the hts leadership. and shannon, really, the other main issue that could be hanging over us interests here, the so—called islamic state. there are prisons there that hold many different fighters, still active in the region, too. do you think that should be a concern for the incoming trump administration? i think that syria presents both an opportunity but also a critical security threat if it's not stabilised very $0011. so, yes, i think donald trump — this was on nobody�*s bingo card for 2024 and i think that this was not going to be one of his immediate priorities going into office but is obviously something he will have to address on january 21. ambassador, about one minute left. last word to you.

we saw the secretary of state today making a surprise trip trip to iraq. he has been laying out his conditions for a future syrian government to follow. he says he wants a democracy there. how realistic do you think any sort of relationship is between syria and the us going forward? i think there's a potential for a relationship but i don't think it's reasonable for anyone to expect that syria, which has had no political culture for 50—plus years, is going to automatically turn into a democracy in a year ortwo. that's simply unrealistic. and, frankly, it's not a key issue for united states's national security. we don't want syria to be a base for terrorists to launch operations out of, striking american friends or, god knows, the american homeland. right. that's different. but we should be able to find areas of common interest with the syrian government. and gradually improve

relations. that's all for our special look at the situation in syria. before we go, a reminder — head to our website bbc.com/news. that's where you can find all of our in—depth coverage, including reporting from our correspondents on the ground. and our story on what might come next for bashar al—assad and his family. i'm carl nasman in washington. thanks for watching. stay tuned. we will have more of the day's stories at the top of the hour on bbc news. for most of the day, friday, for many of you will have been a cloudy, rather grey, damp kind of day with some drizzle around, a bit of mist. but towards the end of friday, we started to get some sunnier breaks coming into the highlands of scotland — bit of sunshine on the horizon. those brighter skies to be found behind this cold front which, at the moment, is pushing its way southwards.

it will eventually bring much sunnier weather, at least for a time, to all parts of the uk. now, right now, we've still got extensive cloud across england and wales, still with those misty conditions, bit of hill fog and quite extensive drizzle but the clearer air is continuing to work down across northern areas. for many of us, saturday morning starting off on a frost—free note, but cold. but there will be some frost patches into scotland. here's your saturday morning, then. starting on a cloudy note for southern england and east anglia, still with some drizzle and mist. that clears through as our cold front finally pushes southwards, followed by sunshine for a time. however, into the afternoon, we'll see things cloud over once again for scotland and northern ireland with a bit of rain pushing in here. it will eventually turn quite mild — 11 in stornoway — whereas eastern scotland, eastern england staying on the chilly side — temperatures 6—8 degrees. saturday night, then, one of those nights where temperatures will actually rise through the night as milder southwesterly winds start to blow in and so, they will bring a completely different kind of weather feel for the second half of the weekend. it's going to be

a much milder day. there will be a lot of cloud around at times, a few breaks in the cloud, a bit of hazy sunshine here and there but for the highlands of scotland, we start to see a band of heavy and persistent rain move in. now, it will be a much milder day than we've been used to pretty much all week — temperatures around 12 or 13 degrees celsius. and this mild weather continues into monday, again with the extensive cloud around, just a few breaks in the cloud, bit of hazy sunshine for some. whereas for the highlands, we've got more rain in the forecast, and that rain actually continues into tuesday. we'll need to be watchful of that — there could be some localised surface water flooding building in early next week due to that persistent rain. so, a mild first half to the week but often quite cloudy with some patches of rain coming and going. really, from the second half of the week and into the following weekend, we see big changes in temperatures from one day to the next. one day will be mild, then colder air comes in, then mild again, then it turns colder again. all the while, it looks like the weather pattern�*s going to stay pretty unsettled in the run—up to christmas.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme.

for most of the day, friday, for many of you will have been a cloudy, rather grey, damp kind of day with some drizzle around, a bit of mist. but towards the end of friday, we started to get some sunnier breaks coming into the highlands of scotland — and we'll have a lesson in open source investigation from one of the internet�*s leading investigators. that's all coming up on the media show. we begin with the fall of the assad regime in syria. for years, he oversaw the killing and detention of thousands of people, including civilians. and with assad gone has now come a freedom to report inside syria in a way that hasn't been possible for decades. kholoud helmi co—founded the syrian independent newspaper enab baladi, and she joined us in the studio. ok, so let us wake up because this is a dream

and we are afraid that we might wake up tomorrow and say