The EU's envoy to Syria headed to Damascus Monday to hold talks with the country's new Islamist rulers, just over a week after president Bashar al-Assad's ouster ended decades of brutal rule and civil war.

The move from Brussels came after the United States and Britain said they had made contact with the new authorities in the Syrian capital.

After facing down a democracy revolt in 2011 with a crackdown that sparked 13 years of civil war, Assad fled after a rebel offensive brought his rule to a stunning end.

The end of five decades of rule by the Assad clan sparked celebrations across Syria and beyond, with governments around the world also welcoming its downfall.

Governments are carefully calibrating their response to the new reality, especially in countries where the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group that is now in charge remains proscribed as a "terrorist" organisation.

HTS is rooted in Syria's branch of Al-Qaeda, but since toppling Assad has sought to moderate its tone, vowing to protect members of all religious communities in the multi-confessional, multi-ethnic country.

"Our top diplomat in Syria will go to Damascus today. We'll have the contacts there," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday.

"We can't leave a vacuum," she said, adding: "For us, it's not only the words, but we want........

© International Business Times