Russia claims deposed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and family are safe in Moscow
Syria’s deposed dictator is “safe” in Moscow with his family and will be granted asylum, with Russia making a big claim about the end of his rule.
Syria’s deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad is safe in Moscow with his family and will be granted asylum, the Kremlin has announced, as the Middle East watches on nervously.
Islamist rebels seized control of Damascus on Sunday in a lightning offensive that forced the president to flee and brought to an end more than five decades of iron-fist rule.
There were jubilant scenes throughout the city as word spread, with statues and posters of Assad torn down and his palatial presidential palace stormed.
Key government buildings were also ransacked and set ablaze, including a security compound housing the Military Intelligence Interrogation Division, which was razed by fire.
Wild rumours circulated online indicating the dictator might be dead, but Russian state media has reported his plane had arrived safely in Moscow.
And the Kremlin sensationally claims it helped facilitate the coup, the RIA Novosti news agency reports, to ensure a “peaceful” transfer of power.
It claimed Russia had been in negotiations with rebels to allow Assad and an entourage, including his family, to flee.
Assad’s dramatic exit comes less than two weeks after the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group launched an audacious campaign challenging his regime.
“After 50 years of oppression under Baath rule, and 13 years of crimes and tyranny and (forced) displacement … we announce today the end of this dark period and the start of a new era for Syria,” the HTS said on Telegram.
Syria’s Prime Minister Mohammed al-Jalali said he was ready to co-operate with “any leadership chosen by the Syrian people”.
The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP “Assad left Syria via Damascus international airport before the army security forces left the facility”.
Abu Mohammed al-Golani, leader of the HTS rebel group, arrived at the Omayyad Mosque in Damascus on Sunday afternoon to address the gathered cheering crowd.
The former al-Qaeda commander, who left the group several years ago, is set to play a major role in the new era of leadership of Syria.
“A new history, my brothers, is being written in the entire region after this great victory,” he said.
After describing Assad’s fall as “a victory to the Islamic nation”, al-Golani warned it would be a long and difficult task to rebuild the devastated country.
He spoke of the enormous human toll of the decades of brutal Baath rule, including the more recent tyranny of Assad.
Referring to the countless refugees who’ve fled the country, he said: “How many people were displaced across the world? How many people lived in tents? How many drowned in the seas?”
However, he vowed Syria would become “a beacon” for the Middle East.