Back in Damascus, rebel leader confident of post-Assad unity

Asaad, a former colonel, defected from the Syrian air force in July 2011, early in the Assad government's crackdown of democracy protests that spiralled into civil war. He went on to found the Free Syrian Army (FSA), one of the main opposition factions during the 13-year war, and lost a leg in March 2013 in a bomb attack on his car in eastern Syria. The longtime ruler was overthrown last week following a lightning offensive led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which has since appointed an interim government.