The UN special envoy to Syria said the country was at "a watershed moment" Sunday, after Islamist-led rebels declared they had taken Damascus, sending President Bashar al-Assad fleeing and ending five decades of Baath rule.

Describing nearly 14 years of civil war in Syria as a "dark chapter (that) has left deep scars", Geir Pedersen said in a statement that "today we look forward with cautious hope to the opening of a new one—one of peace, reconciliation, dignity, and inclusion for all Syrians".