Sharaa's Islamist group is stamping its authority on Syria's state with the same lightning speed that it seized the country, deploying police, installing an interim government and meeting foreign envoys - raising concerns over how inclusive Damascus' new rulers intend to be.

The fall of Assad revealed a shocking reality about tens of thousands of detainees when rebel forces stormed his regime-run jails in Damascus and other Syrian regions and freed them. Anxious and desperate relatives were seen rushing to the most notorious Sednaya prison on the outskirts of Damascus,