AP swift to the story when Bashar Assad’s government falls

The Syria Team

The fall of the authoritarian government of Bashar Assad in Syria to rebel fighters came swiftly and unexpectedly, but AP’s Middle East team was up for the challenge.

Israeli shelling hits an area in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A woman holds up a poster of the late Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone attack in 2020 in Iraq, during a commemoration for him at the Imam Khomeini grand mosque in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A convoy of Israeli troops moves in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Muslim pilgrims prayers at top of the rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, June 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

A displaced child carries filled water bottles at a makeshift tent camp in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Hilala Meryeh, a 64-year-old Palestinian mother of four, weeps in the middle of the dingy identification room after finding her son’s body at the Al-Mojtahed Hospital morgue in Damascus, Syria, on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. Many are flocking to morgues, hoping to identify loved ones who were either killed or imprisoned under President Bashar Assad’s government, which collapsed over the weekend. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People examine photos as they search for missing or deceased people on the wall outside the morgue of Al-Mojtahed Hospital in Damascus, Syria, on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. Many are flocking to morgues, hoping to identify loved ones who have been killed or were imprisoned under the rule of President Bashar Assad, whose government collapsed over the weekend. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Colleagues and friends mourn over the body of Syrian photographer Anas Alkharboutli, 32, in Idlib, Syria, Wednesday Dec. 4, 2024. Alkharboutli, who worked for the German news agency DPA, was killed in an airstrike near the city of Hama, the agency said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Syrian opposition fighters drive a motorcycle and an armored vehicle seized from the Syrian army in the town of Maarat al-Numan, south of Idlib, Syria, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Syrian opposition fighters drive by an abandoned Syrian army armoured vehicle on a highway in the outskirts of in Khan Sheikhoun, southwest of Aleppo, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Syrian opposition insurgency launched a campaign on Wednesday with a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Syrian opposition fighters seize ammunition abandoned by the Syrian army in the town of Khan Assubul, Syria, southwest of Aleppo, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Syrian army armored vehicles are left abandoned on road on the outskirts of Hama, Syria, after opposition insurgents took control of the city, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Syrian opposition fighters stand atop a seized Syrian Air Force fighter plane at the Hama military airport, Syria, Friday Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

The bodies of Syrian soldiers and allied fighters who were killed in combat lie next to a Syrian army vehicle in Aleppo, Syria, early Saturday Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

A Syrian opposition fighter displays badges indicating the ranks of Syrian army officers in Anjara, on the western outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Thursday Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

A Syrian opposition fighter takes a picture of a comrade stepping on a portrait of overthrown Syrian President Bashar Assad in Aleppo, early Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Syrian opposition fighters ride in a truck in Talhiya, Idlib province, Syria, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Beirut-based AP photographer Hussein Malla was the first in, rushing to the border as soon as AP learned that Assad had gone. His photos were all over front pages, blogs and coverage of digital customers. He also shot video for AP broadcast and digital customers. Malla’s speed and bravery on the story meant that the AP was ahead of competitors on some of the key moments of the opposition fighters entering Damascus.

Malla’s speed meant that AP was one of the first two foreign media organizations – with the BBC – to enter Syria after Assad’s fall.

AP had the main front page photo in: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Financial Times, The Globe & Mail, El Pais, Le Razon, The Daily Mail, The National Post, Corriere Della Sera, Rheinische Post, The National Post, Svenska Dagbladet, Göteborgs-Posten, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Philadelphia Inquirer, O Estado de Sao Paulo, Metro UK, El Perodico, La Journada, China Daily, Al-Watan (Saudi), Haaretz, Israel Hayom, Faro De Vigo, Morgen Post, Hindustan (Varanasi), Derík N, BZ Zeitung and many more.

Text reporters Sarah El Deeb and Abby Sewell were among the team that followed. El Deeb wrote a powerful story that captured the sentiment, the hopes, the fears, the challenges ahead, for the people she has met while in Damascus.

Video teams juggled newsgathering and live demands, in challenging and rapidly changing dynamics. The overall coverage was enhanced by the team having covered Assad’s brutal dictatorship for decades.

Besides Malla, Sewell and El Deeb, notable contributions came from photographer Khalil Hamra, video journalists Bassam Hatoum, Malak Harb, photographer Leonardo Correa, drivers Bassam Masri, Issam Masri and Ahmad Bazazu, Fay Abuelgasim, Rania Khadr, Lucas Mailander, Philip Crowther, Abdulrahman Shaheen, Omar Sanadiki, Albert Aji, Ghaith Alsayed, Omar Albam and Hogir Abdo.