In post-Assad Damascus, a mix of joy and trepidation [Video]

DAMASCUS, Syria —  They streamed in by the thousands, deluging Damascus’ Umayyad Square in a sea of cars and people for an impromptu parade to celebrate the stealthy flight of former Syrian President Bashar Assad the morning before.

“Raise your head high. You are a free Syrian,” blared a voice from a bank of loudspeakers atop a pickup truck parked nearby. To the side, a gaggle of young men and children swarmed over an abandoned Syrian army tank, chanting “May Allah curse your soul, Hafez,” — a reference to Assad’s father, Hafez, who ruled Syria for three decades before his death.

Meanwhile, dozens of militants kept up a near-constant staccato of celebratory machine gun fire, leaving a carpet of spent cartridges on the asphalt.

Off to the side, a young man stomped at the singed copies of a tome entitled “The speech on tenets and the national decision by President Bashar Al-Assad,” which …