BBC World Service - Newshour, Five months after Assad, where is Syria heading?

BBC World Service - Newshour, Five months after Assad, where is Syria heading?

Five months after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, we ask can Syria overcome its immense problems under its new Islamist rulers? Also in the programme: Europe commemorates the 80th anniversary of the Nazi surrender in 1945; and the end of the road for Skype. Photo: A torn poster of Bashar al-Assad in Damascus suburb. Credit: Reuters.

Rami Makhlouf has allegedly founded his own militia to defend the Alawites in the Syrian coastal areas. The news on his Facebook account leaves question marks – and highlights the tensions in the country.

With the fall of the Assad regime, a new era began for Syria's minorities. The recent clashes between different groups fuel the fear of violence against minorities.

Masked gunmen have opened fire on partygoers in the Syrian capital in recent nights, in a series of incidents that raise concerns about the nature of the new regime. In one of them, a dancer was shot dead in one of the capital's clubs.

Ahmad Shihabi fled from Assad's terror thugs as a young man. On his way he experienced much suffering and death. Here he tells his story.