'Come back, we're free'

SYRIA: TRANSITIONAL LEADER WANTS 6 MILLION TO RETURN HOME

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The United States was pushing yesterday for an "inclusive" transition in Syria from President Bashar al-Assad's brutal rule, after the country's new leaders pledged to protect minority rights.

Assad fled Syria after a lightning offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and its allies, which brought a sudden end to five decades of abuses by the Assad clan.

Syrians across the country and around the world erupted in celebration after enduring an era during which suspected dissidents were jailed or killed, and nearly 14 years of war that killed 500,000 people and displaced millions.

"We were living in oppression, we were unable to speak," Ibtissam Kaab, a resident of Assad's hometown Qardaha, said.

"Whenever we wanted to speak, they threatened to harm us and our children."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Jordan yesterday to kick off a crisis tour to address the aftermath of Assad's overthrow, heading straight to a meeting in the Red Sea city of Aqaba with King Abdullah II.