As a red sun dropped to the desert horizon, children shouted and splashed in the waters of the Euphrates River and their families picnicked at tables in the shallows. Carefree evenings have returned for many in Syria, but for the people of Deir al-Zour, a desert city in the east near the border with Iraq, the peace is still awaited. “Deir al-Zour gave a lot of people and a lot of blood,” said Ali Muhammad al-Hilou, 45, who lives beside the ruined Othman bin Affan mosque, where some of the first protests began against the former dictator Bashar al-Assad in the 2011 uprising. “The government should look after Deir al-Zour more.”This city, the surrounding province, and its people, veer between pride for being among the first to stand up to the Assad regime and resentment at the neglect shown by its successor, the government now led by the rebel leader turned president, Ahmed al-Shara.