Thousands of jubilant people rallied in cities across Syria, including at a landmark mosque in the capital Damascus, to celebrate during the first Friday prayers since the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad.
More than half a century of brutal rule by the Assad clan came to a sudden end on Sunday, after a lightning rebel offensive swept across the country and took the capital.
Assad fled Syria, closing an era in which suspected dissidents were jailed or killed, and capping nearly 14 years of war that killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.