It was preceded by a thriller surrounding the fate of the Syrian president after the capture of Damascus – Russia has granted him and his family asylum on humanitarian grounds, Interfax reported
Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and his family have arrived in Russia and have been granted asylum by Russian authorities, Russian news agencies reported Sunday, citing a Kremlin source.
The Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed source as saying: “Syrian President Assad has arrived in Moscow. Russia has granted him and his family asylum on humanitarian grounds.”
Earlier and while speculation about the fate of the Syrian president abounded, Russia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had left the country, having previously ordered a “peaceful transfer” of power. In that announcement, the Russian foreign ministry did not specify where Assad was.
Early Sunday morning, Reuters reported that a Syrian Air plane believed to be carrying Bashar al-Assad took off from Damascus airport around the time the capital was reported to have been taken by rebels,
The aircraft initially flew towards Syria’s coastal region, a stronghold of Assad’s Alevi sect, but then made a sharp turn and flew in the opposite direction for a few minutes before disappearing from the map.
The rebels guaranteed the security of Russian military bases in Syria
At the same time, Russia requested that the UN Security Council meet behind closed doors on Monday to discuss the UN peacekeeping mission in the Golan Heights, according to diplomats.
Even Russian news agencies, citing a Kremlin source, reported that the leaders of the Syrian opposition have guaranteed the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic missions in Syria.
The state-run TASS news agency reported: “Russian officials are in contact with representatives of the armed Syrian opposition, whose leaders have guaranteed the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic institutions on Syrian soil.”
On Sunday morning the rebels managed to enter Damascus forcing government forces to retreat and surrender the capital. After negotiations, Assad left the country while his whereabouts remained unknown until the last moment.
On November 27, rebel groups launched a large-scale attack on government positions in Aleppo and Idlib provinces. By the evening of December 7, Assad’s opponents captured several major cities – Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor, Daraa, Hama and Homs.
Source :Skai
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