Militant leader end game is big unknown in post-Assad Syria

The new interim govt is under the control of a group designated a terrorist organization by the US and others

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Mirella Abou Shanab, a Damascus-based TV presenter and producer, went into a pastry shop in the Syrian capital and saw armed Islamist fighters eating ice cream and cake. One of them turned to her and asked if she was Christian, Druze or Shiite and whether that's why she wasn't wearing a veil.

"What I worry about is that this time it may be just a question, but next time action will be taken that may endanger my life and that of any girl or woman in Damascus," she said in a live recording on Facebook late Tuesday, looking distraught and shaken.

While Syrians rejoice at the overthrow of ex-President Bashar al-Assad's brutal dictatorship last weekend, concerns are mounting inside and outside the Arab nation at the pivotal role played by the one-time al-Qaeda affiliate that led the rebel offensive—and what they will do in power.