abu mohamed al—jawlani, head of the islamist group hayat tahrir al—sham. the word a.he word. abu mohamed al—jawlani here for the first time in the great place —— —— umayyad mosque. he has been playing down links to al-qaeda saying that he wants to build a syria for all its people. from the syrian prime minister, also a message of calm. translation: we are all concerned about. his country and its institutions and facilities. i'm here in my home and do not intend to leave it except in a peaceful manner to ensure the continuation of the work of public institutions. the president fled as the rebels closed in and reports in russia say that he has turned up russia say that he has turned up in moscow. it is of his father pulled down shortly before he flew out of the country. his damascus residents, now a tourist attraction, stripped bare of anything valuable or anything at all. we saw people carrying out furniture with no one trying to stop them. the rebels may have brought freedom but not security. the country is hoping for peace and to fearing chaos. this is without a gove

ahmed al—sharaa, abu mohammad al—jawlani here for the first time in the great umayyad mosque.perjay—z is accused of raping a 13—year—old girl. he's named with sean "diddy" combs in a civil lawsuit. both deny the claim. we start with the monumental events in syria. the rebel coalition that toppled the brutal regime of president bashar al—assad and his father — that had controlled the country for more than 50 years — says it's working to form a transitional government. islamist fighters took the capital, damascus, yesterday, after sweeping through the country in less than a fortnight. people poured into the main square, chanting "freedom," after the rebels seized control. this is the scene live in damascas where it isjust gone 1:00pm. as we can see, people are once again out on the streets digesting the news that the assad regime is no more. they are cheering, clapping, and taking pictures. syrian civil defence workers have deployed to the ousted assad regime's notorious saydnaya prison to investigate reports that people are still trapped in cells hidden underground. the united

abu mohammed al—jawlani here for the first time in the great mosque.apperjay—z is accused of raping a 13 —year—old girl. he's named with sean �*diddy�* combs in a civil lawsuit. both deny the claim. hello, i m lucy grey welcome to bbc news now. we start with the extraordinary events in syria over the last 2a hours. the rebel coalition that toppled the brutal regime of president bashar al assad says it's working to transfer power to a transitional government, as it faces the task of running the country. the rebels say they want to build a new syria together. thousands of people who had fled the country during mr assad's rule have been returning from neighbouring lebanon and jordan. cars queued at the main masnaa crossing on the lebanon—syria border. at the syrian embassy in russia 7 the country that kept mr assad in power 7 staff have raised the flag of the opposition above the building. iran, also a major backer of the assads, says it has opened direct communications with the rebels. efforts are also continuing in syria's capital damascus to free priso

abu mohammed al—jawlani, head of the islamic group hayat tahrir al—sham.s there for bbc arabic. chanting translation: a historic moment, in every sense of the word — abu mohammed al—jawlani here for the first time, in the great umayyad mosque. the rebel commander has been playing down past links to al-qaeda, saying he wants to build a syria for all its people. from the syrian prime minister, also a message of calm. translation: we are all. concerned about this country and its institutions and facilities. i am here in my home, and i do not intend to leave it, except in a peaceful manner, in order to ensure the continuation of the work of public institutions. the president fled, as the rebels closed in. reports in russia now say he's turned up in moscow. a statue of his father pulled down shortly before he flew out of the country. his damascus residence now a tourist attraction, stripped bare of anything valuable, of anything at all. we saw people carrying out furniture, with no one trying to stop them. the rebels may have brought freedom but not security. l

but since breaking ties with al-qaeda in 2016, al—jawlani, has stopped stopped wearing the turban wornry fatigues. for years, he has has been trying to change his group's image abroad while enforcing strict islamist rule in the northwest corner of syria under his control. i spoke to mina al—lami, chiefjihadist media specialist at bbc monitoring who told us more about the group's background. hts with its leader mohammed al—jolani was the first time using his real name recently, has been in control of idlib province in north—west syria seen as the last rebel stronghold for many years and what they have done with idlib is that they have tried to run it like a mini state within a state, they have tried to present themselves as capable governors or de facto authority in that region. hts, as you said, used to be al-qaeda's affiliate in syria but they broke ties with al-qaeda in 2016 and as razan said earlier, they have notjust recently signalled their separation from thejihadist in changing their rhetoric, this has been going on for many years, since 2016. initially that separation from al-q

ahmed al—sharaa, abu mohammad al—jawlani here for the first time in the great umayyad mosque.wn past links to al-qaeda, saying he wants to build a syria for all its people. the president fled as the rebels closed in, a statue of his father was pulled down, and his residence in damascus was stripped bare by looters. people carried what they could, without anyone to stop them. for assad himself, russian state media says he and his family are now in moscow, and that they will be granted asylum on humanitarian grounds. his fall is a major setback for his allies, russia and iran, but has been welcomed in the west. we will engage with all syrian groups, including within the process led by the united nations, to establish a transition away from the assad regime. we have taken note of statements by the leaders of these revolutionaries and they are saying the right things now, but as they take on greater responsibility we will assess notjust their words but their actions. syrians are hoping for peace, but they fear chaos and even more violence. this is a fractured country. different gr

abu mohammed al—jawlani here for the first time in the great mosque.d girl. he's named with sean �*diddy�* combs in a civil lawsuit. both deny the claim. hello, i m lucy grey welcome to bbc news now. we start with the extraordinary events in syria over

abu mohammed al—jawlani, head of the islamic group hayat tahrir al—sham.ere for bbc arabic. all chant: allahu akbar! a historic moment, in every sense of the word — abu mohammed al—jawlani here for the first time, in the great umayyad mosque. the rebel commander has been playing down past links to al-qaeda, saying he wants to build a syria for all its people. from the syrian prime minister, also a message of calm. translation: we are all. concerned about this country and its institutions and facilities. i am here in my home, and i do not intend to leave it, except in a peaceful manner, in order to ensure the continuation of the work of public institutions. the president fled, as the rebels closed in. reports in russia now say he's turned up in moscow, a statue of his father pulled down, shortly before he flew out of the country. his damascus residence now a tourist attraction, stripped bare of anything valuable — of anything at all. we saw people carrying out furniture with no one trying to stop them. the rebels may have brought freedom but not security. l

al—jawlani has told residents of homs "your time has come". 0ur middle east correspondent hugo bachegaorder. it's an astonishing offensive by these rebels. last week, they captured aleppo, syria's second largest city. yesterday hama. and now they are on their way to homs, which is the country's third largest city, a strategic city in central syria. it connects the capital, damascus, to the north of the country and also to the coast, the heartland of president bashar al—assad. so very significant developments happening. reports suggest they are getting closer to homs, and also reports indicating that government troops may have pulled out from central parts of the city. so, again, astonishing advance by the rebels. this is an offensive that is being led by islamist rebels from a group known as hts. they have their roots in al-qaeda. they're trying to project themselves as being a nationalist force, trying to topple the regime of president assad. and again, i think the big question here is about how the president is going to respond and whether he's able to launch any kind of counteroffen

well, they are led by a man called abu mohammad al—julani, called abu mohammad al—jawlani, who actuallydist leader, until2016, when he broke with al-qaeda. and he has been trying to re—orientate that particular group, the one he's head of, hts, as it's known, to make it less overtly jihadist in its outlook. what he says is he, you know, he's an islamist. he wants to have religious law in syria, but he says he's just thinking about syria. he's not an international jihadist who wants to somehow recreate the caliphate, that islamic state, of course, managed to start doing in syria and in iraq, resulting in, you know, a massive and bloody war. so that's the sort of man that he is. he's heading an alliance. it's a very split up situation of rebel groups. and they have found as far as the syrian arab army, assad's forces are concerned that they're pushing on an open door. let's speak to rahaf aldoughli, lecturer in middle east and north african studies, lancaster university. how surprised if you mean by this offensive?— this offensive? i've been surprised _ this offensive? i've been surprised

al—jawlani has told residents of homs "your time has come".am house, which is a international think tank based in london. how do you see this panning out? do you think the rebels can ultimately march on damascus and depose president assad? it damascus and depose president assad? , ., ., damascus and depose president assad? , ., , ., assad? it is too early to really say _ assad? it is too early to really say with - assad? it is too early to really say with certainty| assad? it is too early to - really say with certainty what will come next. for now, what we can say for sure is that their ability to capture homs where the fighting is currently taking place will definitely get them closer to damascus and make that possibility higher. however, for them to be able to do that and then get closer to damascus, they will have to remain united, maintain their supply lines as well as continue to attack regime forces from different areas. 0n the regime side, the inability to the regime to mobilise more support from its allies, primarily russia and iran, w

that is the sort of man that abu mohammed al—jawlani is.ding an alliance, a very split up situation of rebel groups, and they have found, as far as the syrian army, assad's forces go, an open door. i want to ut a forces go, an open door. i want to put a map — forces go, an open door. i want to put a map of _ forces go, an open door. i want to put a map of the _ forces go, an open door. i want to put a map of the reactor - to put a map of the reactor lets you will see some of the geography, because if you throw into the mix the north—east kurdish groups, the significance of that, you don't need to reference too much of the map, but those kurdish groups, why they important? if you look at the map, there is not a great deal of territory between aleppo and the turkish border. that's the first thing. the political situation in northern syria is very splintered. the turks control part of the ground with their own malicious. there is also another kurdish militia which the american support, which the turks absolutely are against, and the control se

we heard, dominated by the main islamist group, headed by the military commander, abu muhammad al—jawlanieaval in their lives and looking to their new leaders to everything from keeping the lights on, the shops open, people being able to go to work, but also keeping people's hope alive that this new chapter in syrian lives can move the country forward and give it the kind of peace, security and stability that they have yearned for for so many years. we will keep an eye on all the development from your cross syria, but keep watching bbc news. you're watching bbc news. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has begun testifying in his trial on charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery. he's the first serving leader in israel to take to the witness stand as a criminal defendant. mr netanyahu has denied the allegations. our middle east correspondent yolande knell is at court. so really quite a remarkable scenario that we've seen here in the tel aviv district court today. district court today — the israeli prime minister taking the witness stand in his long—running trial. and at the sam

as the main rebel group leader abu mohammed al—jawlani, speaks to crowds at a historic mosque in damascustly who are his group and what do they believe? just over a week after launching the offensive which triggered the assad collapse told supporters that all syrians are good now to breathe freely. he said assad's leadership and spread sectarianism and corruption. in a speech laden with religious overtones, he said the removal of president assad was a victory what she called the heroic mujahedin rebels. more than five decades of authoritarian rule by the assad family have come to an end in syria, after rebels took the capital, damascus, overnight. speaking on state television, they said "the city of damascus has been liberated. assad has been toppled." in the last few minutes, reuters has ported sources in the kremlin saying that the deposed bashar al—assad and his family are in moscow. there are also reports that assad has arrived with his family members, that is according to the russian state news agencies, citing unnamed sources. they say that russia has granted assad political asylum

this is their leader, abu mohammed al—jawlani.s to topple the regime and bring back syrian refugees. translation: people will return to their homes, - many refugees in turkiye will likely return, as will a significant number of refugees in lebanon and jordan, even refugees in europe may return to rebuild their country. they are vowing to reach damascus and bashar al—assad is struggling to stop them. in the past, he relied heavily on russia and iran to fight the opposition. but both allies are preoccupied with their own affairs. the rebels have the momentum and the regime is increasingly under threat. large parts of the uk are braced for storm darragh with amber weather warnings for widespread disruption covering southern scotland, cornwall and northern ireland. storm darragh is expected to bring heavy rain over the weekend across the uk. the most serious threat is to south wales and along the bristol channel, where a rare red warning for strong winds has been issued, meaning a danger to life. gusts of around 90 miles an hour are e

abu mohamed al-jawlani - to build a better country. al—jawlani speaks to crowds in damascus, who are his group? and what they believe? hello and welcome to bbc news. russian state news agencies have announced that syria's deposed president basher al—assad is in moscow and has been granted political asylum. a kremlin source says that it based its decision on humanitarian consideration. meanwhile, the man who led the estimate rebels who toppled him has been addressing cheering supporters for the first time since arriving in damascus. abu mohamed al—jawlani told supporters at the umayyad mosque that also syrians could now breathe freely. he said assad's leadership had spread sectarianism and corruption. western leaders have welcomed a set�*s four but in a sign of how a site in the future of syria may become us planes have struck more than 75 estate targets in its area and that is according to the latest from the pentagon. russia has propped up a side and his fatherfor many decades propped up a side and his father for many decades but in t

since then, the group and its leader, known as abu mohammed al—jawlani until recently, tried to distancetried to move away by shredding all international ties and connections. and very clearly started stating that they are objective and their goal is to fight the syrian regime and its backers in syria. in an interview a few years ago he once told me, you know, my fight is with this regime and the russians in syria, not in moscow, i am the russians in syria, not in moscow, iam not the russians in syria, not in moscow, i am not going to go after anyone out of the context of syria. if the russians back off from fighting the regime, we are welcome to work with them, really. he has been taking fundamental shifts and u—turns in the trajectory of the group. it has been trying to recast himself and his group as a local, islamist, syrian, rebel, freedom fighting group thatis rebel, freedom fighting group that is only focused on what they call liberating syria from decades of tyranny and decades of injustice that was imposed on everyone by the syrian regime. on everyone by the syrian reaime. ., i.

the man who goes by the name of abu mohammed al—jawlani, the leader of hts— mohammed al—jawlani, the— de guerre. he has dropped that name to go back to his original name — name to go back to his original name of— name to go back to his original name of ahmed al—sharaa. he is wearing — name of ahmed al—sharaa. he is wearing a — name of ahmed al—sharaa. he is wearing a western suit and reached _ wearing a western suit and reached out to the russians and has said — reached out to the russians and has said he —— they can keep their— has said he —— they can keep their bases— has said he —— they can keep their bases as long as they don't — their bases as long as they don't use them against us. the two nations that have fought them — two nations that have fought them he _ two nations that have fought them he has approached. the signs— them he has approached. the signs at— them he has approached. the signs at the moment are quite encouraging. signs at the moment are quite encouraging-— encouraging. thank you. lina shaikhouni _ encouraging. thank you. lina shaikhouni you _ encouraging. thank

this is somebody who until now has gone by the name of al jawlani.se he tried to ditch his jihadist links. his real name because he tried to ditch hisjihadist links. he has ditched them largely but he certainly wants to distance himself from that. the difficult balancing act is this - 11 difficult balancing act is this — 11 hand, he needs to establish enough of a rule of law enough discipline that there is more looting and dismantling of government infrastructure of the way that iraq was ransacked after the 2003 us led invasion. he also needs to make sure there is not a blood—letting and some of the more remote parts of the country, people settling scores, which could simply reignite the civil war. remember that syria is a patchwork of different ethnicities and religions. you have sunni muslims, sheer muslims, christians, kurds, a la and so on. —— shia muslims. and at the same time being democratic enough that he makes this country internationally acceptable. so far, i have to say, the signs are very good. he is saying the right things. but let's not