UPDATED: Syria's former president Assad arrives in Moscow
Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has arrived in Moscow with his family after accepting the Kremlin's offer of asylum, Russian state news agency TASS reported on December 8.
Assad departed Damascus by private jet late December 7, initially landing in Abu Dhabi, as opposition forces closed within kilometres of the Syrian capital. The timing of his subsequent departure from the United Arab Emirates to Moscow remains unclear, according to diplomatic sources.
The departure comes amid a dramatic collapse of government control across Syria. Opposition forces, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and their leader Ahmed Hussein al-Shar'a, otherwise known as Abu Al-Jolani, have captured three major cities in a lightning offensive that began last week with the fall of Aleppo.
Flight tracking data showed multiple return flights by private aircraft between Damascus and the UAE on December 7 before another jet allegedly crashed and landed in the Syrian countryside. Reuters reported that speculation over whether Assad was on that plane.
Diplomatic positions appear to be shifting rapidly in recent hours. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking in Doha, modified Moscow's stance toward the Syrian opposition for the first time since 2016, with the Kremlin in confirmed talks with different groups over its military base in Tartus, now under opposition control.
Iran has similarly adjusted its rhetoric, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi referring to opposition forces as "legal occupants" during an interview in Doha, abandoning the previous characterisation of all opposition as "terrorists."
The developments follow a week of rapid territorial losses for the Syrian government. Opposition forces have advanced to the outskirts of Homs, while regime loyalists have fled toward the Mediterranean coast.
Assad had already sent his wife and three children to Moscow in the previous week, presaging his own departure.
The sudden exit of Syria's leader after more than two decades in power marks a dramatic turning point in the country's civil conflict and the end of the 53-year-old government of father and son.
Reports suggest Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may have died in a plane crash
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is reportedly presumed to have died in a plane crash, according to Reuters, citing two sources within Syria, Azernews reports.
While there is speculation that the plane's transponder may have been turned off, leading to its disappearance from radar, one of the sources suggested that the plane could have been shot down.
The aircraft, an Il-76 with registration number YK-ATA, was believed to have been traveling from Damascus when it made an unexpected turn. Initially headed towards the Iraqi border, the plane veered northeast, over Syria's Mediterranean coast where loyalist Alawites and Russian military bases are located. It then made a sharp turn back in the opposite direction before disappearing from radar near the rebel-held city of Homs.
Flight data from FlightRadar shows that the plane's altitude and speed decreased sharply before it vanished, with its last known location near the Syrian Air Force base in Al-Qusayr, an area currently under rebel control. The status of the base remains unclear.
Russia claims Assad left Syria after giving instructions to transfer power peacefully
By Associated Press - Sunday, December 8, 2024
MOSCOW — Russia’s Foreign Ministry claimed Sunday that Bashar Assad had left Syria after negotiations with rebel groups, and gave “instructions” to “transfer power peacefully.”
In a post on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday, the ministry said Moscow had not directly participated in these talks. It also said it has been following the “dramatic events” in Syria “with extreme concern.”
It also said Russian troops stationed in Syria have been put on high alert and that as of early afternoon Sunday, there was “no serious threat” to the security of Russia’s military bases there.
Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, teaming up with Iran to allow Assad’s government to fight armed opposition groups and reclaim control over most of the country.
While Russia now concentrates the bulk of its military resources in Ukraine, it has maintained a military foothold in Syria and keeps troops at its bases there.
Whereabouts of Syria’s Assad unknown with army officers saying he boarded flight
AMMAN: Syria’s Bashar al-Assad boarded a plane in Damascus for an unknown destination early on Sunday, two senior army officers said, as rebels seized the city and ousted him from power after 24 years as president.
Assad has not spoken in public since the sudden rebel advance a week ago, when insurgents seized northern Aleppo in a surprise attack before marching into a succession of cities as frontlines crumbled.
His whereabouts now - and those of his wife Asma and their two children - remain unknown.
A Syrian Air plane took off from Damascus airport around the time the capital was reported to have been taken by rebels, according to data from the Flightradar website.
Syrian rebels say they have toppled Assad in state television announcement
The aircraft initially flew towards Syria’s coastal region, a stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect, but then made an abrupt U-turn and flew in the opposite direction for a few minutes before disappearing off the map.
Reuters could not immediately ascertain who was on board.
Two Syrian sources said there was a very high probability that Assad may have been killed if he was on the plane, as it took a surprise U-turn and disappeared off the map according to data from the Flightradar website.
“It disappeared off the radar, possibly the transponder was switched off, but I believe the bigger probability is that the aircraft was taken down…,” said one Syrian source without elaborating.
The plane departed Damascus soon after rebels had taken the central city of Homs, cutting the capital off from the coast where Assad’s Russian ally has air and naval bases.
The only trackable flight departing Syria visible after midnight on Flightradar24, a flight tracking site, left Homs for the UAE, but that was hours after rebels had captured the city.
As the rebel advance gathered steam over the past week, there was speculation that he may seek refuge in Moscow or with his other main ally Iran.
Syrian state media said on Saturday he was still in Damascus. They have not commented on his whereabouts since.
He was visiting Moscow just before the rebel offensive and Iranian news agencies published a photograph of him on Saturday that they said showed him meeting a top Iranian official in Damascus.
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