Syria’s new rulers invite Assad security officials to surrender

Headquarters of intelligence service in Damascus is now settlement centre' where those who served inside turn themselves in

The filthy corridors inside the headquarters of the general intelligence service lay dark and empty. Towering piles of boxes and plastic sit near the steps leading up to the imposing building, as well as torn posters of the former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

On the road outside, hastily abandoned cars with smashed windscreens and bullet casings litter the ground - a reminder of the looting and destruction that took place a month ago as Syrians vented their anger at symbols of the Assad regime's fearsome security state, built up over decades.