DAMASCUS, Syria (AFP) — Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa vowed to usher in an era of justice and coexistence a year after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad, with tens of thousands taking to the streets Monday to mark the anniversary.

Sharaa’s Islamist-led alliance launched a lightning offensive in late November last year and took Damascus on December 8, bringing a sudden end to more than five decades of Assad family rule and over a decade of civil war.

Jubilant crowds thronged the streets of the capital and other major cities, many people waving Syrian flags, AFP correspondents said, after mosques in the Old City began the day broadcasting celebratory prayers at dawn.

“Today, with the dawn of freedom, we declare a historic break with that legacy, a complete dismantling of the illusion of falsehood, and a permanent departure from the era of despotism and tyranny, ushering in a bright new dawn — a dawn founded on justice, benevolence… and peaceful coexistence,” Sharaa said in a speech to mark the occasion.

His speech was followed by continued celebrations across Syria with fireworks exploding above the massive crowds who chanted along to revolutionary songs played over loudspeakers.

Sharaa also reaffirmed “our commitment to the principle of transitional justice to ensure accountability for all those who violated the law and committed crimes against the Syrian people.”

Multi-confessional Syria’s fragile power transition has also been shaken by sectarian massacres in the country’s Alawite coastal heartland and deadly clashes in Druze-majority Sweida in the south.

The authorities announced investigations after some........

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