Hundreds of Syrians protested Thursday in central Damascus calling for democracy and women’s rights, more than a week after an opposition coalition ousted president Bashar al-Assad, AFP correspondents said.“We want a democracy, not a religious state,” men and women demonstrators chanted in central Damascus’s Ummayad Square, as well as “Free, civil Syria” and “the Syrian people are one”, while some protesters held signs including “No free nation without free women.”“Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” (HTS) launched a lightning offensive from their northwest Syria bastion last month, sweeping swathes of territory from government control and taking the capital on December 8, toppling al-Assad.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Proscribed as a “terrorist” organization by several Western governments, HTS has sought to moderate its rhetoric by assuring protection for the country’s many religious and ethnic minorities.It has appointed a transitional