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Syria’s new prime minister said the Islamist-led alliance that ousted President Bashar al-Assad will guarantee the rights of all religious groups and called on the millions who fled the war to return home.

Assad fled Syria after a lightning offensive led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies, spectacularly ending five decades of brutal rule by his clan.

Syrians across the country and around the world erupted in celebration, having endured a stifling era in which anyone suspected of dissent could be thrown in jail or killed.

As Assad’s overthrow has plunged Syria into obscurity, the new rulers have sought to reassure members of the country’s religious minorities that they will not oppress them.

They have also promised justice for the victims of Assad’s iron rule, with HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani vowing on Wednesday that officials involved in torturing prisoners will not be pardoned.

According to the war monitor of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, half a million people have been detained since the start of the war, of whom around 100,000 have died due to torture or poor detention conditions.

“We will not pardon those involved in torturing prisoners,” said Jolani, who now uses his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa, urging “countries to extradite all those criminals who may have fled so that they can be brought to justice.”

In the corridors of Damascus’ main hospitals, thousands of families gathered to try to find the bodies of loved ones captured by authorities years ago.

“Where are our children?” women cried out as they clutched the walls, desperate for closure after their year-long ordeal.

The Sunni Islamist HTS is rooted in the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda and is labeled a terrorist organization by many Western governments, although the organization has tried to moderate its rhetoric.

“Precisely because we are Islamic, we will guarantee the rights of all people and all sects in Syria,” said Mohammad al-Bashir, who was appointed by the rebels as the transitional government.

Asked whether Syria’s new constitution would be Islamic, he told Italian daily Corriere della Sera that “we will clarify all these details during the constitution process.”

Bashir, whose appointment was announced on Tuesday, is tasked with leading the multi-ethnic, multi-denominational country until March 1.

After decades of rule by the Assads, members of Shia Islam’s Alawite minority group, Syrians now face the enormous challenge of charting a new course as they emerge from nearly fourteen years of war.

In Aleppo, Syria’s second city and the first major city captured by the rebels in their offensive, shopkeeper Ramadan Dali, 70, said that “we are starting to feel safe.”

Juman Khilaly, 40, said “there is still a lot of uncertainty” about even the most basic aspects of life, such as school for her 10-year-old child and rising prices.

“Everything is so expensive,” she said.

In the Assads’ home village of Qardaha, the grave of the former leader’s father was set on fire, AFP footage showed, as rebel fighters in fatigues and young men watched it burn.

The war has killed more than 500,000 people and forced half the population to flee their homes, with six million seeking refuge abroad.

In his interview with Corriere della Sera, published on Wednesday, Bashir called on Syrians abroad to return to their homeland.

“Syria is now a free country that has earned its pride and dignity. Come back,” he said.

Syria’s main international airport, Damascus, closed since rebels overran the capital, will reopen “in the coming days”, director Anis Fallouh told AFP.

Bashir said Syria’s new rulers would be willing to work with anyone as long as they do not defend Assad.

The UN envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, urged an inclusive process, telling AFP that his “main concern is that the transition will create new divisions in a way that could lead to new civil war”.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the world body was “fully committed to supporting a smooth transition of power”.

Assad was backed by Russia, where he reportedly fled, and by the militant group Hezbollah from Iran and Lebanon.

On Wednesday, the Kremlin said it wanted to see stabilization in Syria “soon” as it criticized Israel for hundreds of airstrikes it carried out on its neighbor in the past two days.

Some Western governments have also warned against military action by foreign powers.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Syria’s “neighbors such as the Turkish and Israeli governments, which assert their security interests, should not jeopardize the transfer of power.”

France called on Israel to withdraw its troops from the buffer zone separating the annexed Golan Heights from Syrian territory, and Spain urged respect for “the territorial integrity of the country.”

While Assad had to face protests and an armed uprising for more than a decade, it was a lightning offensive launched on November 27 that finally forced him out.

The rebels launched their offensive from northwestern Syria on the same day a ceasefire came into effect in the war between Israel and Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.

That war, which killed thousands of people in Lebanon, left Israel inflicting staggering losses on the ranks of Assad ally Hezbollah.

Qatar, which has backed Assad’s opponents, said on Wednesday it would reopen its embassy in Damascus “soon”.

Robert Ford, the last US ambassador to Syria, helped designate the terrorist organization HTS in 2012.

But he pointed hopefully to Jolani’s statements after the victory, including welcoming international scrutiny of any chemical weapons that are discovered.

“Can you imagine Osama bin Laden saying that?” said Ford, now a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.

“I’m not saying trust Jolani… But I definitely want to test him on some of these things.”