The Detroit area’s many Syrians are celebrating Assad’s overthrow and planning long-delayed visits

Associated Press

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Like millions of Syrians around the world, the thousands who have settled in the Detroit area are excited about the prospect of visiting now that rebels have overthrown the government of ousted President Bashar Assad. Nizam Abazid, who owns a cellphone business in Dearborn, which is the largest majority-Arab city in the U.S., says he’s excited to see the country of his birth for the first time since 1998. He says Syrian authorities detained him for more than six weeks during a 1990 visit, but that he can now return without fear. Rama Alhoussaini, whose family left Syria when she was 6 years old, says she’s hoping to bring her young kids to meet their relatives in person.