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Syrian clerics in former Assad stronghold call for national unity, democracy

# Thousands of people gathered in northwestern Syria yesterday for weekly prayers and a rally in the port city of Latakia, a former stronghold of ousted president Bashar al-Assad. Syrian clergy urged for national unity under the country’s new government. Some of  the crowd chanted “freedom forever despite Assad” outside the Al-Aijan mosque. Khaled Kamal, a Sunni imam who spoke at the gathering, told Reuters it was a “joy like no other” to return to Syria after fleeing abroad during the war. He called on all Syrians abroad to return.