I can see myself in Syria again, helping to rebuild

SYRIANS living in the UK have told of their joy at the fall of the brutal Assad regime, and how they now dream of a return to their homeland - perhaps to help rebuild it.

- MATHEW YOUNG

Razan Alsous, 42, and her husband Raghid Sandouk, 56, fled to Britain with their three young children - one aged 10 months in 2012, within two days of a car bomb exploding outside Raghid's office in the capital Damascus.

They then set up a business here within two years and integrated themselves into a welcoming community.

With war raging, they were able to instantly leave Syria in 2012 because they had UK visas due to Raghid's work.

Now, after 12 years, they can finally plan to see loved ones over there.

Razan said: "We feel relieved. It's unbelievable that mission impossible, to collapse the regime, has happened.

"It's been more than 50 years where you cannot speak out about - or even think bad about the regime."

REIGN

Yesterday tens of thousands of people descended on Umayyad Square in Damascus as part of the celebrations over the demise of the Assad regime.

The reign began in 1971 when tyrant Hafez al-Assad became president.

Razan said: "We're talking now about visiting Syria. We'd love to see my family and introduce them to our children." She said they lost everything in the war before finding themselves settled in Sowerby Bridge, West Yorks.

Despite her pharmacy degree and her husband's experience as an electronics engineer who ran a company in Syria, they struggled to find work before launching dairy company Yorkshire Dama Cheese.