Ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is in Moscow, says Russian state media
Moscow: Ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow on Sunday, Russian media reported, hours after a stunning rebel advance took over the capital of Damascus and ended the Assad family’s 50 years of iron rule.
The Russian agencies, Tass and RIA, cited an unidentified Kremlin source saying Assad and his family had been given asylum in Moscow. The Associated Press was not immediately able to verify the reports but contacted the Kremlin for comment.
Bashar al-Assad and with ally Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Moscow in July.Credit: AP
RIA also said Moscow had received guarantees from Syrian insurgents of the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic posts in Syria.
President Joe Biden said on Monday morning (AEDT) that the sudden collapse of the Syrian government under Assad is a “fundamental act of justice” after decades of repression, but it was “a moment of risk and uncertainty” for the Middle East.
Speaking at the White House, Biden said the US was not sure of Assad’s whereabouts but was monitoring reports he’d sought refuge from long-time ally Moscow.
Biden credited action by the US and its allies for weakening Syria’s backers – Russia, Iran and Hezbollah. He said that “for the first time”, they could no longer defend Assad’s grip on power.
Bashar succeeded his father, Hafez (right), in 2000, with the Assad family ruling Syria for half a century.Credit: AP
“Our approach has shifted the balance of power in the Middle East,” Biden said.
The swiftly moving events have raised questions about the future of the country and the wider region. Russia has requested an emergency session of the UN Security Council to discuss the situation, Russia’s first deputy permanent representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, posted on Telegram.
Joyful crowds gathered in squares in Damascus, waving the Syrian revolutionary flag in scenes that recalled the early days of the Arab Spring uprising before a brutal crackdown and the rise of an insurgency plunged the country into a nearly 14-year civil war.
Others gleefully ransacked the presidential palace and residence after Assad and other top officials vanished.
Abu Mohammed al-Golani, a former al-Qaeda commander who cut ties with the group years ago and says he embraces pluralism and religious tolerance, leads the biggest rebel faction and is poised to chart the country’s future.
In his first public appearance since fighters entered the Damascus suburbs on Saturday, Golani visited the sprawling Umayyad Mosque and called Assad’s fall “a victory to the Islamic nation”.
Calling himself by his given name, Ahmad al-Sharaa, and not his nom de guerre, he told hundreds of people that Assad had made Syria “a farm for Iran’s greed”.
The rebels face the daunting task of healing bitter divisions in a country ravaged by war and still split among armed factions.
Syrian opposition fighters celebrate after the government collapsed in Damascus on Sunday.Credit: AP
Turkey-backed opposition fighters are battling US-allied Kurdish forces in the north, and the Islamic State (IS) group is still active in some remote areas.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces conducted dozens of airstrikes on Islamic State targets in central Syria on Sunday. A CENTCOM statement said its strikes were aimed at ensuring IS did not take advantage of the current situation.
“The operation struck over 75 targets using multiple US Air Force assets, including B-52s, F-15s, and A-10s. Battle damage assessments are underway, and there are no indications of civilian casualties,” CENTCOM wrote on X.
In another development, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli forces have seized a buffer zone in the Golan Heights established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria.
Abu Mohammed al-Golani speaks at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.Credit: AP
Netanyahu said the decades-old agreement had collapsed and that Syrian troops had abandoned their positions, necessitating the Israeli takeover.
Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it. The international community, except for the United States, views it as occupied Syrian territory.
Syrian state television broadcast a rebel statement early on Sunday saying Assad had been overthrown and all prisoners had been released. They called on people to preserve the institutions of “the free Syrian state”. The rebels later announced a curfew in Damascus from 4pm to 5am local time.
The rebels said they had freed people held at the notorious Sednaya Prison, where human rights groups say thousands were tortured and killed.
Israeli soldiers walk near armoured vehicles parked along the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights from Syria.Credit: AP
A video circulating online purported to show rebels breaking open cell doors and freeing dozens of female prisoners, many of whom appeared shocked. At least one small child was seen among them.
“This happiness will not be completed until I can see my son out of prison and know where he is,” said one relative, Bassam Masr.
“I have been searching for him for two hours. He has been detained for 13 years.”
AP
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.