More than a week after being overthrown, the former Syrian president, Bashar Al-Assad, broke his silence on Monday, December 16, affirming that he had only fled Syria after the fall of Damascus to the hands of of a rebel coalition and calling the country’s new leaders “terrorists”. On December 8, an insurgent alliance led by the radical Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTC) entered Damascus and announced the overthrow of power, after a dazzling offensive which allowed it to seize a large part of of the country in eleven days. Abandoned by his Iranian and Russian allies, Mr. Al-Assad fled to Moscow.
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“My departure from Syria was not planned nor did it take place during the final hours of the battle, contrary to some allegations”affirms the ousted president in a press release in English broadcast on the Telegram channel of the Syrian presidency. “Moscow demanded (…) an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday, December 8”adds Bashar Al-Assad.
Russia has been intervening militarily since 2015 in Syria, where the war began in 2011 with the brutal repression of pro-democracy demonstrations. “In such a situation, it would not be right at all for me to detail what happened and how it happened but [Bachar Al-Assad] is security »explained Sergei Riabkov, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, confirming in an interview with NBC that Bashar Al-Assad had found refuge in Russia. “This shows that Russia is doing the right thing in such an extraordinary situation”he added, without specifying the role played by Russia in the decision to exfiltrate the Syrian dictator. Bashar Al-Assad, who ruled Syria with an iron fist for twenty-four years, now claims that his country was “in the hands of terrorists”.
Diplomatic missions
HTC, the former Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, claims to have broken with jihadism but remains classified as a terrorist organization by several Western capitals, including Washington. After fifty years of unchallenged rule by the Al-Assad clan and implacable repression against any opponent or presumed opponent, the new authorities are working to reassure the international community, and the chancelleries are gradually making contact with their leaders, including Ahmed Al-Charaa, by his nom de guerre Abou Mohammed Al-Joulani, the head of HTC.
On Monday, the European Union (EU) announced that it would send a high representative to Damascus to meet the new leaders. The EU will judge on actions “going in the right direction”declared the head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas. The day before, the UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, met with Mr. Al-Charaa, with whom he stressed the need for a transition “credible and inclusive”according to its services.
The United Kingdom and the United States also announced that they had established contacts with HTC, and France announced that it would send a diplomatic mission to Damascus on Tuesday, the first in twelve years. Neighboring Turkey, a major player in the conflict in Syria and support of the new authorities, reopened its embassy in Damascus on Saturday, saying it “ready” to provide military aid if requested by the new Syrian government.
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The new prime minister in charge of the transition until 1is March, Mohammad Al-Bashir, promised to “guarantee the rights of all”as Syrians try to return to normal life.
