sure, you miss nothing about is on the w titles. i hope you enjoy the trip here as much as i did. what about you? what's your opinion? feel free to write your thoughts and the comments. this is the 1st friday using the rebel forces. toppled the assad regime in syria. friday prayers were followed by st parties and many cities, the largest in damascus, jubilation and reservations about what comes next. really just minorities inside syria say they are worried along with diplomats from turkey into the us to we rack the main rebel force now in charge known as h t. s. is considered a terrorist group by the us in europe is leader of has been on a media blitz with a message. we did not take down a dictator just to replace them with the hardest library golf in berlin. this is the day the

we came here today to congratulate the 3 people. we are very happy today. getting started attacking us. they start with homes, killed people and threatened us with weapons. we're now one of the happiest countries on the planet. they threatened us with slow say, all the she writes and syria will be slow to the injustice and oppression is over. the most important thing is that people now feel safe in the why come back to damascus? why the revolution power going to kill us old also it coming up is syrian fighters discover a huge hall of the stimulate drug cap to gone link to else did president bush r l. a saw time. all right, and these drugs they send that the saudi arabia to the entire gulf. give me on this is how this sense, what, what about the?

so this is how that back to the rep much with confidence, a high and drugs. all of our viewers watching on cbs in the united states and to all of you around the world. welcome. we begin today in syria, this friday, the 1st friday since the collapse of the assad regime of syrians and spent the day celebrating in the streets scenes crowds gathered in central damascus, following friday prayers. the rallies included the video posted by the leader of the rebel forces who spearheaded the offensive that finally toppled a saw. the insurgent leader congratulated the syrian people and urge them to celebrate what he called the victory of the revolution. the huge rally continued long after sunset with the crowd and setting off fireworks to celebrate the end of 50 years of dictatorship, of the.

all right, i want to get the straightened up to the syrian capital into w. correspondence element of joint is from damascus. stella you award there at this, the main square in damascus, where people were celebrating, talk to me about what you saw, what you heard the atmosphere there. people were very unhappy with thousands of thousands of people at the out square. and we actually didn't make a toll because we got stuck in traffic off the wrist. we just standing next to the big road right now. and people are still celebrating, they're still on their way to join the other people that have been on, oh my god, square the whole off. it's really, i cannot describe how many people are standing on the square. the thing is that them thing the way the menu, sir, in fact there are so take together to show the scenario we need to hear every night they say by side by side. 6 you pull down,

so it's really an incredible mood and everyone is very happy and i think it's going to continue throughout the whole nice. yeah, i mean, it looks like a huge party. what are people hoping them for? for now, as far as the future is concerned, the most people i spoke to are hoping that the problem is the new government further said transitional government is making at the moment. but they will stick to these promises and actually brought people more rights for the better. and people are just enjoying the momentum as well. because many of them i enjoy freedom speech for the 1st time i see for the 1st time they can say what they think most of it could use words that were also been like the world. so the, don't the, if you would say that speak about dollars that would oppose the problem, rudy on. so people are really kind of right. you said,

well mentioned right now and just turn that thing off as long as they're on right now as a thinking. so not getting any worse. yeah, and lots of will leaders have been calling on the, the new syria to respect the rule of law to protect the rights of minorities. what kind of relationships are serious new rulers have being then to establish with other countries, the donnie, the need to offer it's that this feeding the rebels has promised the neighboring countries and other foreign countries to establish peaceful relationships, sell already some relationship to. a that has to be the stablish service. he has to set the open an embassy, and again, in serious keep on the terms of product visited the yesterday as well as set that they will open an embassy. yeah.

and then we will see if uh the us government is actually taking this from it. so let me ask you about command at the moment. so the rebel leader off without sharah. he has dropped his old name. he used to be known as auburn mohammed out galani. do we know why he did that? say i luxury lottie was a, something like his a fighter name, which is not very uncommon for people who were part of the, the opposition. many change the name because they feared that the families would experience the consequences or just to hide the identity. so he's now sending 2 signals to the 1st 6. now he's sending it to the syrian saying, the next, i'm going back to my name. so i want to send the signal that everything is safe. we

to be free and truly be we are. and so that's like the message reminded that you sending the other hand. he's also rebranding himself a little bit because many people to whom it, he's known as altered on either him under this name when he was still part of i'll call you to and many people here in syria, all very concerned about his past engagement in ida and therefore, you sort of re branding himself and in, but to prove that his political ideas have shifted since that. yeah, the former is the hardest with a new name and perhaps a new identity, w corresponded still a minute in damascus. still thank you. but now to the dictator and the drugs, as serious rebels swept to power, they took control of sites linked to the assad regime, including factories that were apparently used to manufacturer narcotics. the assad

regime was long and used to financing itself in part by exporting a stimulus drug known as cap to gone, damascus denied any involvement in the business, but rebel fighters say they found proof. and abandoned warehouse complex on the outskirts of the syrian capital, damascus. the rubble of biters, the sale was one of the key productions sites in the illicit drugs trade believed to have been headed by a sides of brother my hair on the bottom of it, after we entered, we found this was a factory from my side and his partner assignment i p t and that they dealt in kept to go home and drugs. we found a large number of objects that were stuffed with packages and kept it on the pills . the were meant to be smuggled out of the country have been kept going on to the factories previous owners as it was built to make potato chips before it was seized by the sides associate in 2018. since then,

the site appears to have turned out kept the gun pills, named after a stimulant, 1st made in germany in the 19 sixty's, but was later just continued nickname to the poor man's cocaine. the underground version became popular across the middle east. the highly addictive drug staves of hunger and sleep, but can have harmful side effects. the cap, the gun pills were heading in all sorts of different packaging. even annapolis trouble fighters said they are eliminating stock powers of the substance. the other because we burned it and destroyed it all the time of because it's harmful. so it was in the game has to be the, it's bad for people and for the environment to be the origin of mobile, but kept a gun, was good business for the a sod, richie generating an estimated more than $2000000000.00 in annual profits for damascus. syria's new rubble leaders say they want to put an end to the trade.

well, enjoy now by caroline rose as she is with the new lines institute and heads it's project on kept the gone. she joins me to night from new york city. caroline, it's good to have you with is how big is this find announced by fighters in syria? as this is quite significant because it proves sides really the regime has been implicated in the list of production and profit king of capital gone officially. while there has been evidence that has mounted for years, really since the late 20 times that the regime and security apparatus and even family members of the sod family, or implicated and kept on production trafficking. this really i, i think creates a concrete impression in a concrete story that really the regime was involved and deeply embedded in this industry and profited from this industry as

a form of alternative revenue streams. yeah, i mean, i'm wondering how big is world trade in this drug? the drug known, of course, is the poor man's cocaine, the jihad til, and talk to me a little bit more to about how deeply involved the sod machine was in the tray. certainly. so it was, it was around late 20 times around 20172018 when we started to see a large scale involvement comp to gone had always been in syria and lebanon. but really it was at this point when we started to see signs of industrial scale production and traffic end of kept it on. and that really means seeds shipments all over the middle east, where it kept it on pills uh, were in the millions and were very sophisticated in terms of how they were concealed and how they were transported. they were also transported on a maritime, sometimes commercial maritime vessels. like a shipping containers and often sent to a from and to state owned and operated ports is very clear that the president's

brother ma hair all a side also head of the 4th armor division. a very key element of serious security apparatus was behind the operation of many production and traffic inc facilities. additionally, there been family members such as was seen body, a, all a saw, some air body, all the sides, move their all assad, a cousins that were part of the family of the all the sides that also participated in the trafficking and production of kept it gone then additionally, they also had a members of the commercial and business sector that also helps conceal and provide immunity to this trade and allow that really to thrive into a $10000000000.00 industry. at its peak. on, on average, it was estimated to earn around $10000000000.00 and about $2400000000.00 for the regime. listen, i think it was about 2 years ago, you gave evidence to the u. k. house of commons on how deeply tried the sod regime

was to the kept the gun drug trade. did you expect then, that in late 2024, we would be able to see images from inside a post a sod kept the gone lab. now now i think that if you had told me in london about a year and a half ago that i would have many friends or journalists who are calling me from inside some of those warehouses, holding some of the pills and, and, and looking at some of the evidence i, i would have thought that that was absolutely crazy. i never would have expected the regime to fall this quickly. i never would have expected the regime to not be able to dispose of this evidence. i mean, this is only really the 2nd or 3rd lab that has been found in regime held territories. former regime held territories. and just a matter of days, i expect that we'll see many more warehouses, laboratories, storage facilities and processing centers in the,

in the coming days. and the fact that the regime really didn't take much care to dispose this as they were trying to leave and evacuated. i think it is quite interesting in these, these labs, the sides include various chemicals which are used in drug production and labels and st. and the chemicals came from britain, china, india, oman, saudi arabia and 11 now. and there are sanctions we know in place against syria, but are you surprised that the whole world was basically helping to, to make this drug inside syria? or i'm not surprised, especially given the fact that syria, before the civil war broke out, it was already a very large hub for a pharmaceutical production. so it's very possible that they acquired many of these chemicals beforehand and they stopped filed them. additionally, i think it's quite notable that a lot of these chemicals are also dual use. so some of them have a list, it's a list at purpose. and it's intentional from,

from these are listed actors. i think that they're trying to acquire dual use chemicals for the manufacturer of a listed synthetic substances like dividing mean type stimulants like kept, are gone on. also, some of the substances can be used for the production of methamphetamine or crystal methamphetamine, which is the also, of course, very concerning for the region and the fact that we've already seen an uptick and crystal meth distribution step revision. my final question before we run out on time and what effect is the fall of the song machine going to have on the availability of capt gone? where do you see the manufacturing moving to or do you see it having to even move? well, i think certainly we shouldn't see this as the end of the cap to gone trade in the middle east, let alone inside of syria. there's, there's already existing infrastructure and no hot, no how expertise that exists amongst uh many individuals that still are in syria. now the question is, how will the trade be effected?

i think that there will be an immediate cut to in the short term to supply. this will also incentivize many traffickers to try and move closer to destination markets. especially given the fact that demand levels really haven't changed. so we'll likely see a shift likely to a rock, to create potentially, to turkey, to libya, egypt. many of these hot spots that we already saw about a year or 2 ago, a trickling effect, an a spillover of both production and trafficking. i also think that users will try and seek out alternatives, especially since kept on pills. there will likely be a spike in the costs of a kept on pills. and likely that's going to leave many users. unfortunately, to methamphetamine and crystal meth. carolina rose with a new lines institute in new york, carolina. we appreciate your valuable analyses, especially on this friday evening. thank you. thank you. as

well, even as many syrians celebrate the fall of a side is a different story for the families of those who went missing under his root, it's estimated that some 150000 people disappeared during serious 13 years civil war. most of them were arrested by a subs security services. many families are now searching for their missing loved ones in more w's mohammed schrader reports to night from damascus to my her is standing in front of the coffin that contains her son. she tells us he was killed 2 weeks ago when i started wishing forces where he did his home. she wants to save at this moment, lost. she can bury him and say good bye. they said they wouldn't give me his body and that he's a terrorist and should be buried anonymously. and given

a number, i thank god i can finally come to his grave. my study is just one of many found and syrian detention centers and presents. since i sides, government collapsed just as the more of the we, i don't wish to help us put them in central damascus is supposed to be a close, looks like a lot of house, a bunch of bodies of detainees and people visiting all the time, looking for their relatives, brothers, or loved ones. it's an extra identity seen as people inspect dozens of bodies looking for twos or bus marks to identify the relatives. so far, only if you have found love on the team,

you suffer from an easy ition and mistreatment as they were exposed to cold weather and overcrowding. the let to the death of most of the bruises that may have cost or death because they suffered from internal injuries. you mean signs of torture? yes indeed, especially the ones who died recently outside to hospital hundreds of syrians are looking for the loved ones. this is all they have to go off. pictures with just numbers, no needs a vis, desperate is looking for us on site missing and the thoughts and the tore your network of presents for more than a decade luck. and if i understand, you know, i still knew nothing about new york, we do the mobile highest every security agency and didn't get an answer. and i know i'm still looking for them everywhere. so much advertising is of the jump out associated with this multi term boost is yesterday, but you can't move now. what did you find here? the money to?

i found nothing. nothing at all. and i said no, no one has answered. okay. i use yeah. i thought of either in the field i'm still searching that you know, i'm and that sort of thing. what will you do? said the i'm leaving it to god's will. and only if he's dead, i want his body. i want to know where he is buried. i want to see it with my own eyes, but not if one here will be lucky enough to find to find the resting place of those just one. after doing so much on the serious, brutal dictatorship. russia was a key l y, a former syria leader bush l. a sod with russian troops fighting islamist rebels alongside the syrian army, but support for as odd also serve the strategic goal for vladimir putin most gals to naval bases and syria serve as

a staging point to project russian military might throughout the middle east and into africa where now the other side is gone, the future of russia's military presence in syria is unclear. a release of the only be flying home to russia in disease or k for images. the rest of the planes are still taking off one of the or come by commission from the, from a military base and the wisdom cereal on the words inside and outside of the country. exactly home. and he is what is clear? is there a number sent to the number of russian soldiers in syria have grown over the last 10 years? to me, i mean, is one of 2 out the most with regional scale wanted to strength and influence in the middle east. and president, letting me put in his reputation as a global politician. the other is dotted loose on syria submitted to rainy and coast. russia supposedly naval base outside to the former soviet union.

this was a big show to prove that russia has friends and plays a certain role in, well, politics looks go, has invested a lot of money in both basis and created an entire infrastructure for each army in syria. me mean is special. we became an important topic for russia spear force. also from here, it's believe russian nurse and there is have a launch desirable duration in the african countries of libya. so don and the central african republic. those of insurance could now also come to an end at below to 13. so ability to project about what globally experts say to somebody, this is his biggest, closest slap in the face. so it's not clear if the gramlin was surprised by cedar rapids, rebel takeaway and see the whole was possibly in a secret deal. as some analyst have surmised. but to the creation of the russian military, it was apparently only started at the last moment experts and to the with the help

of states was each must go doesn't have the easiest of relations. in the meantime, old worships now believed to have left the tartarus the naval base. whether they will have a right to earn is it also remains on certain, however, some expect russia to hold on to the military bases and to will therefore trying to reach an agreement with serious new leaders. 14 seems to recognize of this. even though he has granted the boss on all of us on a sunday, lemme in the russian. she has not commented on our thoughts keys, nor met human or some listening. i must, courtney will. this must go. doesn't public record assad instead hinds him somewhere in the store and then forgets about him? options of what do you think you to them when there's a chance of normalizing relations with serious new rulers to west tell me. however, building a relationship is likely to be difficult as the crowd live in support of the data

to, to us out. because the system magically folds the syrian, the results for us bring you know, our corresponding konstantin, eager to join, to be from the illness lithuania. because the thing is good to see, you know, we've talked many times about the dynamics here, the formula of russian power in syria. we've also talked about the risks to rush associated with its ties to syria. put the else thing of a saw into that equation as well. this just means that simply today that raises no russian power in syria, as simple as that of the absence of also means that the russian doesn't have any kind of political connections that could sustain its influence of the region, or at least of the country rather. and the fact that the ships uh allegedly left from dr. swear, where i've been before the base expended to it's kind of full. i mean,

i can tell you one thing. uh if they let the charles of the coming back is diminished. and frankly, i think that's a total today will have to speak not so much to the new siri leadership, which, i mean, it still has to take some kind of local, your own full, bought to be bought at least the cut on 3 of the most of the situation there, and that is, uh, the techs present the edge up of the home. i think that it's, it's his, yes or no on which of the, the, the future of the russian bases now depend on corresponding constituting hagar. just joining us tonight from vilnius. thank you for the day continues online, you'll find this on x, also known as twitter and on youtube. but the w news, you can follow me on social media and bring golf tv and remember whatever happens between now and then tomorrow is another day, have a good weekend. everybody will see you here again. on monday the

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and i'm going to be exploring all, listen more in a new season, matches available on all platforms. the . this is dw dues, and these are our top stories muslims in syria have celebrated their 1st friday prayers since the collapse of the assad. rashid brows gathered in damascus today earlier the leader of the forces that toppled the saw. posted a video congratulating the syrian people urging all to celebrate what he called the victory of the revolution. francois by root has been appointed, as francis knew, prime minister, a centrist l y. if.