Assad assures that his flight to Russia was not planned
In his first statement since his escape to Russia, the Syrian autocrat claimed that his intention was to remain in his country but that Moscow ordered an emergency exit from its military base in Latakia.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Syrian autocrat Bashar Assad is offering for the first time Monday his version of events regarding his departure from Syria after Damascus was taken over by Islamist rebel forces. He did so through the first official statement since then.
In his statement, posted on his Telegram channel, the former Syrian leader explains that he did not leave Damascus until the rebel forces took over the city. Following this, he moved to the Russian military base located near the city of Latakia.
Days before this, the Kremlin had already ordered the relocation of its ships from the port of Tartus, south of Latakia. In his message, Assad claimed he wanted to clarify several aspects about the recent events.
He rejects outright that his departure from Syria was planned. He claims that it took place a day after the rebels definitively took over the capital, Damascus. When he arrived at the Russian military base, the remaining forces loyal to his regime fell.
According to Assad, when the security of the Russian base in Latakia was compromised by several drone attacks, Moscow ordered the evacuation of the commanders to Russia. Included in the evacuation was Assad himself, although he insists that his intention was to stay in Syria to "continue fighting terrorists."
Interim government in Syria
Since the Asaf regime fell last Sunday, December 8, the future of Syria has become unknown. Currently, the Islamist rebels of the terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) have the upper hand.
Their leader, Abu Mohamed al-Golani, has become the central figure around whom the rebel forces rally. HTS appointed Mohamed al-Bashir as the head of the interim government, granting him a three-month mandate to oversee a transition of power. Al-Bashir acts as a figurehead, representing the civilian government established by HTS to govern the Idlib province, which the terrorist group has controlled since 2016.
Some governments such as Turkey and Qatar, which in have backed HTS throughout its fight against the Assad regime in Syria, have declared their willingness to work and dialogue with this new Islamist-style government.
The rest of the major powers in the international community, while they have raised the possibility of dialogue with HTS, are still on hold.
"We cannot leave a vacuum," said senior European official, Kaja Kallas, ahead of a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers.
The senior official stressed that the EU will analyze how the HTS group behaves. "We want the facts to go in the right direction. So (we will analyze) not only what they say, but also what they do," she said.
The UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, met on Sunday in Damascus with Jolani. He reaffirmed the need for a "credible and inclusive" transition, his services said.
Spain plans to send its top diplomat back to Damascus, announced Jose Manuel Albares Bueno, the country's foreign minister, on Monday.
The UK and the U.S. established "diplomatic contact" with HTS, which claims to have severed ties with jihadism.
LATEST
