After years of bloodshed, a new era dawns on Syria

Rebel group leader vows to rebuild nation, turn it into a beacon for the Islamic world

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DAMASCUS - Damascus stirred back to life on Dec 9 at the start of a hopeful but uncertain era after rebels seized the capital Damascus and President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia, ending a 13-year civil war and more than 50 years of his family's brutal rule.

Heavy traffic returned to the streets and people ventured out after the suspension of a night-time curfew, but most shops remained shut. Rebels milled about in the city centre.

Main rebel commander Abu Mohammad al-Jolani met Mr Assad's Prime Minister Mohammed Jalali and Vice-President Faisal Mekdad to discuss arrangements for a transitional government, a source familiar with the discussions told Reuters.

Al Jazeera television reported that the transitional authority would be headed by Mr Mohamed Al-Bashir, who ran the administration in a small pocket of rebel-held territory before the 12-day lightning offensive that swept into Damascus.

Syria's banks were scheduled to reopen on Dec 10 and staff had been asked to return to offices, according to a Syrian central bank source and two commercial bankers. Syria's currency would continue to be used, they said.

Fighters from the remote countryside milled about in the capital, clustering in the central Umayyad Square before Damascus's great 8th-century mosque.

"We had a purpose and a goal, and now we are done with it. We want the state and security forces to be in charge," said Mr Firdous Omar, who said he had been battling the Assad government since 2011 and was now looking forward to laying down his weapon and returning to his job as a farmer in Idlib.

The advance of a militia alliance spearheaded by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, was a generational turning point for the Middle East.