Syrians mark a month since al-Assad’s overthrow with concert in capital

Thousands attend the concert in Damascus to mark the end of al-Assad family rule and almost 14 years of civil war.

It’s been a month since Bashar al-Assad was overthrown, ending more than five decades of his family’s rule in Syria and almost 14 years of civil war. Al-Assad escaped to Russia on December 8 and has not been seen since.

On Wednesday night, thousands attended a concert in the capital Damascus to celebrate the uprising, a day which some Syrians thought would never come.

Reporting from Damascus, Al Jazeera’s diplomatic editor James Bays said people gathered at a basketball centre in the heart of the city for the celebratory concert, marking one month of relative calm and stability.

“There is a real feeling of exuberance here exactly one month after the fall of al-Assad,” he said.

“Outside this stadium you actually have a large poster of al-Assad but now you can just see his hair and forehead. The rest of it has been ripped away as his regime, his army and the whole apparatus … was ripped away exactly one month ago,” he added.

Bays said the proceeds from the concert will go to prominent NGOs, including the White Helmets – the civil defence force that operated during the al-Assad regime to rescue people from the rubble when there was bombardment by the Syrian air force and the Russians.

In Damascus, many Syrians were also looking ahead to a new country. “I hope the future will be better. There was no life under al-Assad. We were scared of him and his army,” Nada Daye, a Syrian resident, told Al Jazeera.

Mamoun Nahlawi, a bookshop owner, said the economy should now open up after years of sanctions by the United States and other Western powers. “The sanctions must be lifted. Otherwise people won’t see a positive effect. People were humiliated during al-Assad,” he told Al Jazeera.

Syria is among the most sanctioned countries in the world and the country’s new administration, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, is trying to change that. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) held its first meeting of the year on Wednesday, focusing on the matter.

Reporting from the UN headquarters in New York, Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo said the UNSC pushed for sanctions to be lifted at the meeting.

Geir Pedersen, UN Special envoy for Syria, also told the UNSC meeting that “working on an inclusive political transition “will help ensure that Syria “quickly receives the economic support that it desperately needs, which requires in turn a smooth end to sanctions”.

Elizondo noted that Tom Fletcher, the UN humanitarian affairs under-secretary-general, also told the UNSC that sanctions should not impede humanitarian support to the country.

In the upcoming weeks, a national conference to discuss Syria’s transition to democracy is set to begin.

Meanwhile, US officials have also begun talks with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates about relaxing financial restrictions on Damascus, provided the new government cuts ties with Russia and Iran, and offers political stability.