Muhamad yehia
DAMASCUS, Syria — Hundreds of Syrian demonstrators gathered after Friday payers in several cities calling for unity against sectarian divisions and to memorialize rebel fighters who have died.
It marked the third consecutive Friday of demonstrations since Bashar Assad’s government was overthrown in a sweeping offensive led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Many Syrians are fearful that the relatively peaceful conditions since Assad’s fall could break down into sectarian fighting.
Mass rallies took place in the capital Damascus, Hama, Daraa, and Homs, with participants carrying the new Syrian flag and chanting slogans in support of the country’s new leadership, as seen by an Associated Press journalist and reported by Syria’s state media.
Scores of former rebels took part in the protest in Damascus, marching in crisp camouflage uniforms and raising weapons and flags.
“These people shed their blood for such a day,” said Mohammad Abu Safi, a protester in Umayyad Square. “We must remember them and keep them in our minds.”
A group of people held a large wooden cross next to a copy of the Quran, chanting for unity. Other participants carried banners with slogans rejecting division and extremism, urging Syrians to unite against the remnants of the Assad government.
Sawsan Abbasi held posters of her cousin Rania Abbasi and her six children who went missing during Syrians demonstrate for Syrians demonstrate for national unity in several cities in several cities “We don’t know what happened to them. We have six missing children. We want to find them,” she said.