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A Christmas market opened in Damascus on Thursday (December 19), ten days after the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Visitors flocked to the market, where they strolled around and took pictures next to Christmas decorations. Yaza al-Sahour, a Syrian man at the market with his partner, expressed his hope for Syria to be rebuilt as a "country for all sects and religions." On December 8, fighters from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a Sunni Islamist group that has emerged as the dominant force in post-Assad Syria, took control of the country after advancing to Damascus. Since then, many Syrians have fled the country fearing persecution, despite assurances of safety from the new rulers. Top diplomats from the United States, Turkey, the European Union, and Arab nations met in Jordan on Saturday (December 14) and agreed that a new government in Syria should respect minority rights.