Syrians were happy but worried as they watched Assad’s palace being overthrown

Damascus – The Syrian capital was operating by default on Tuesday, with no new government in place after the incident rebel attack that toppled longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad on Sunday. But as the former al-Qaeda group that led the charge put some of its top officials in control of the self-proclaimed authority, many Syrians appeared determined to try to carry on with business as usual.

Some institutions, including Syria’s central bank, have called on workers to show up for work, and many people seem to be hoping that simply sticking to daily routines will prove the safest option in the face of total uncertainty about the country’s future.

Some efforts are being made to alleviate the anxiety. Mohamed al-Bashir, the politician who once led the local government in parts of northwestern Syria and Idlib ruled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, before the unusual 12-day offensive, has been named the next interim prime minister. three months.

And while there was lingering anxiety, there was still a sense of excitement, especially in the capital Damascus, which until Sunday had been the center of the Assad family’s brutal rule for a century. On Monday, crowds flocked to see one of the former dictator’s houses and get to know the Islamist militants who swept through his town on Sunday.

Those rebel forces, while roaming the streets, were very well behaved — even allowing members of the public to hold their weapons for smiling photo opportunities.

“It’s a celebration for all of us, for all Syrians: here and around the world,” said Lina Zacchar, one of many Syrians who came to look at the former president’s family home. “My mother is a Christian, so she is afraid. But we tell her … we hope for a new Syria. We are all brothers, we are all sisters, we are all one! We are Syrians.”

In another symbol of the state, the presidential palace, members of the public walked through the large ceremonial rooms where the Assads once received dignitaries.

The idea of ​​coming anywhere near the palace was unthinkable to the general public. Now, its doors are wide open. CBS News found the palace guarded by a renegade soldier named Ahmed who was nearly killed fighting Assad’s forces nine years ago.

“I was targeted and I was injured in the 2015 strike at our home. My relatives have been arrested and I don’t know their fate,” Ahmed told CBS News on Monday. “They may be in state prisons and I hope we can get them out of there.”

Ahmed – like all other rebels – is waiting for new orders. There are still big questions about HTS’s efforts to gain political legitimacy, its tarnished human rights record in areas of Syria it controls, and lingering doubts about the group’s ability to bridge the country’s sectarian divide.

Parts of the country are also reeling from the war as Turkish-backed rebels fight Kurdish forces allied with the US in the north, and the Islamic State group and its extremist ideology still operate in pockets of the country.

As Syria experiences seismic changes, the country is at a historic, but still dangerous, moment.