Syria Civil War: Donald Trump says Russia, Iran in 'weakened' state

United States US Presidentelect Donald Trump on Sunday said Syrian President Bashar Assad has fled his country and his protector Russia led by Vladimir Putin was not interested in protecting him any longerAccording to news agency AP Trump in a post on social media platform Truth Social also claimed that Russia lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine where close to 600000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or deadTrump added that Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now one because of Ukraine and a bad economy the other because of Israel and its fighting successMeanwhile German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock expressed understanding for the relief Syrian people felt after the fall of President Bashar Assads government but warned that the country must not now fall into the hands of other radicalsSeveral hundred thousand Syrians have been killed in the civil war millions have fled Baerbock said in a statement emailed by her office on Sunday Assad has murdered tortured and used poison gas against his own people He must finally be held accountable for thisAccording to AP Baerbock also called on the parties to the conflict to live up to their responsibility for all SyriansThis includes the comprehensive protection of ethnic and religious minorities such as Kurds Alawites or Christians and an inclusive political process that creates a balance between the groups the German foreign minister saidSyria Civil War Refugees in Beirut say they want to go homeSyrian refugees in Beirut celebrated Assads downfall on Sunday with some saying they are considering returning to SyriaAfter all these years of suffering God granted us relief Hilal Youssef a Syrian from Hama said on Sunday We will go back to Syria with pride and joy We got rid of this army We got rid of the injustice that we lived before and freed Syria Now we can go there anytime we wantFor sure we want to go back said Bilal al Khleif also from Hama Refugees will return to Hama to Damascus to Idlib and all areas and chant Freedom he saidMeanwhile the Syrian state TV briefly resumed its programming with an anchorman calling on all employees at the station to return to work adding that they were safeThis is Damascus the capital of Syria where the gates of freedom have opened for the first time in many years This is a historic day in Syrias modern history the anchorman said on Sunday morning according to APHe later hosted Anas Salkhadi a rebel commander among the fighters who stormed the capital Salkhadi said that the rebels would protect state institutionsOur message to all the sects of Syria is that we tell them that Syria is for everyone Salkhadi said We will not do what Assads family didAs Salkhadi spoke the sound was cut and the broadcast suddenly stopped A red banner then appeared on screen with writing in Arabic that said The victory of the great Syrian revolution and the fall of Assads criminal regimeMeanwhile hundreds of Syrians took to the streets to celebrate the fall of Bashar Assads governmentSome cheered and rejoiced in front of a Syrian bakery on the German capitals Sonnenallee boulevard in the Neukoumllln neighbourhood famous for its many Arabic stores restaurants and coffee shops People waved flags emblazoned with Free Syria while others flocked in motorcades German news agency dpa reportedMany originally from Lebanon Syria and Iraq live in Neukoumllln Hundreds of thousands of Syrians fled the civil war in their home country and reached Germany by crossing the Mediterranean on flimsy rubber boats and trekking through the Balkans often for days and weeks on footWith AP inputs