Bashar al-Assad comes out of silence. A week after his dismissal, the overthrown Syrian president spoke for the first time on Monday, December 16. The dictator who took refuge in Russia was keen to indicate that he only fled his country at the request of Moscow. “My departure from Syria was not premeditated nor did it take place during the final hours of the battle, contrary to some allegations,” he said in a statement.
Several senior Syrian officials had indicated that the Syrian president had fled without warning members of his family or his closest collaborators on the night of December 7 to 8. “On the contrary, I remained in Damascus, fulfilling my duty until dawn on Sunday, December 8.”he indicated.
Bashar al-Assad also claimed that the Russian base at Hmeimim on the Mediterranean coast in where he had taken refuge had been attacked by drones “while the situation on the ground continued to deteriorate.” “With no viable means of leaving the base, Moscow demanded (…) an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday, December 8,” he added, asserting that Syria was now “in the hands of terrorists” .
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