Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his family have arrived in Moscow, Russian state media reported, as rebels have taken control of the Syrian capital, Damascus, bringing to an end the brutal, half-century rule of the Assad family.
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Assad “decided to resign” after “negotiations” with a “number of participants in the armed conflict” and left office “giving instructions for a peaceful transfer of power.”
“Russia did not participate in these negotiations,” the ministry added.
Russia has been a longstanding ally of Syria, providing significant military and political support to Assad’s regime, especially during the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011.
The Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement came as the rebels said in a statement aired on state TV that Damascus is “now free of Assad,” whose family ruled the country with an iron fist since 1971.
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said in a video that the government is “ready to cooperate with any leadership chosen by the people.”
“We believe that Syria is for all Syrians and that it is the country of all its sons and that this country can be a normal state that builds good relations with its neighbors and the world without entering into any regional alliances and blocs,” Jalali said.
He was later seen leaving his home on December 8, escorted by armed men, reportedly to meet the leadership of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Sunni rebel group that led the current offensive against the Assad regime.
HTS is a U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist organization. In recent years, the Islamist militant group severed ties with Al-Qaeda and sought to remake itself as a pragmatic alternative to the Syrian government. But concerns remain over its alleged rights abuses and ties to terrorist groups.
