Welcome to the News Hour. After 14 years of war, Syria is seeking stability, beginning with a transition of power from the ousted Assad regime.

Today, the country's caretaker prime minister, appointed by the fighters who overthrew Bashar al-Assad, said the government transition process is expected to take until at least March.

Meantime, the top U.S. general overseeing operations in the Middle East was in Syria

today, visiting American-backed Kurdish forces in Syria's northeast who are under attack

by Turkish-supported militia.

Special correspondent Simon Fultein reports from Damascus. The road to Damascus is littered with remnants of Assad Syria.

When we crossed from Lebanon, the highway was still largely empty, amid uncertainty over what's next.

In the capital, the embassy of Iran once Assad's closest ally sat abandoned, signaling a possible

new balance of power in the region.

Syrians gathered at one of the main squares once again daring to dream of a future.

There was jubilation among some, cautious optimism, among others.

I want Syria to go back to what it was, that there's no destruction, that we are won, that

there's no sectarianism. I'm against sectarianism. I'm Syrian and you're Syrian, and that's

it.

After 13 years of uprisings and civil war, the armed opposition brought down Assad's government

in a lightning offensive that lasted 11 days.

But now an even bigger challenge lies ahead, forming a government that's acceptable to all Syrians.

Maisa, a mother of three, has one demand for Syria's new rulers.

I want them to be just towards their people.

The people are exhausted from these last 15 years.

It's enough. Let there be justice.

The prevailing feeling is hope that this is a turning point for the better.

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