Assad denies ‘planned’ exit from Syria, calls new leaders ‘terrorists’

DAMASCUS - Ousted President Bashar al-Assad broke his silence on Dec 16 after fleeing Syria, saying in a statement that he only left once Damascus had fallen and denounced the country’s new leaders as terrorists.

Mr Assad fled to Russia just over a week ago, as a lightning offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) wrested from his control city after city until the rebels reached the Syrian capital.

The collapse of Mr Assad’s rule stunned the world and sparked celebrations around Syria and beyond, after his crackdown on democracy protests in 2011 sparked one of the deadliest wars of the century.

Rooted in Syria’s branch of Al-Qaeda, HTS is proscribed by several Western governments as a terrorist organisation, though it has sought to moderate its rhetoric and pledged to protect the country’s religious minorities.

Long before the emergence of HTS and jihadist groups in the Syrian war, however, Mr Assad consistently branded his opponents, including non-violent protesters, as terrorists.

“My departure from Syria was neither planned nor did it occur during the final hours of the battles,” said a statement on the ousted presidency’s Telegram channel.

Mr Assad was propped up throughout the war by Russia and Iran.

“Moscow requested… an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday, Dec 8” after he moved that day to Latakia, where Russia operates a naval base, the statement said.

“When the state falls into the hands of terrorism and the ability to make a meaningful contribution is lost, any position becomes void of purpose,” added the statement, released in English.

Mr Assad’s fall sparked rejoicing in Syria and around the world after five decades of rule by his clan, which had zero tolerance for dissent and which operated a complex web of prisons to detain anyone even suspected of dissent.

To the victims of some of Mr Assad’s worst atrocities, the end of his era brought a glimmer of hope that they might find closure.

As HTS and its allies advanced through Syria, they opened prison gates to free people suspected of dissent who had been held for days, months, years and even decades.

“We want our children, alive, dead, burned, ashes, buried in mass graves… just tell us,” Madam Ayoush Hassan, 66, told AFP at Saydnaya, one of the prisons Mr Assad had used to strike fear into Syrian society.

She travelled to the prison in Damascus from her home in northern Syria, but could find no trace of her missing son.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 100,000 people died in Syria’s jails and detention centres from 2011.

Mr Ghazi Mohammed al-Mohammed, a survivor of detention, told AFP that officers seized him while he was on a trip to Damascus, took away his papers and said to him: “Now you’re number 3006.”

He does not even know why he was arrested.

“Towards the end, I just wanted to die, waiting for when they would execute us. I was almost happy, as it would mean my suffering was over,” he said.

The war sparked by Mr Assad’s crackdown on the revolt killed more than 500,000 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and forced more than half the population to flee their homes.

Governments around the world have welcomed the downfall of Mr Assad, who came under sanctions over the abuses committed under his authority.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Dec 16 the bloc’s envoy to Syria would travel to Damascus to make contacts, adding: “We can’t leave a vacuum.”

On whether HTS could be trusted, she was cautious.

“For us, it’s not only the words, but we want to see the deeds going to the right direction,” she said. “So not only what they are saying, but also what they are doing.”

UN envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen told HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani that Syria must have a “credible and inclusive” transition, according to a statement on Dec 16.

Qatar’s embassy is set to resume operations on Dec 17 after Turkey, a key backer of some of the rebel groups that ousted Mr Assad, reopened its embassy.

Britain and the US confirmed they were in touch with HTS, despite officially considering the organisation a terrorist group.

A French diplomatic team is due in Damascus on Dec 17 to “retake possession of our real estate” and make “initial contact” with the new authorities, acting Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country was coordinating on providing aid including wheat, flour and oil to Syria.

Ukraine has been at war since Russia invaded in 2022.

A cautious sense of calm is returning to many cities, but Damascus’s interim governor acknowledged that major obstacles lie ahead.

“The challenges we are facing right now are the massive destruction of the institutional structure in terms of human resources, local economy, and the social structure,” said Mr Maher Marwan.

“This is a reality that requires great effort and awareness, in addition to solidarity by everyone at this phase.”

Since Mr Assad’s fall, both Israel and Turkey have carried out military strikes inside Syria.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted his country has “no interest in confronting Syria”, despite launching hundreds of strikes over the past week.

“Israel’s policy towards Syria will be determined by the evolving reality on the ground,” he said in a video statement.

Those strikes continued early Dec 16, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reporting raids on military sites in the coastal Tartus region.

The British-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria, said the raids were “the heaviest strikes” in the area in more than a decade.

Israel has also ordered troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, a move the UN said violated a 1974 armistice. AFP