Ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad fled to Moscow and received asylum from his longtime ally, Russian media said Sunday, hours after a stunning rebel advance seized control of Damascus and ended his family\u2019s 50 years of iron rule.<\/p>\n
Thousands of Syrians poured into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire and waved the revolutionary flag in scenes that recalled the early days of the Arab Spring uprising, before a brutal crackdown and the rise of an insurgency plunged the country into a nearly 14-year civil war.<\/p>\n
The swiftly moving events raised questions about the future of the country and the wider region.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur approach has shifted the balance of power in the Middle East,\u201d President Joe Biden said, crediting action by the U.S. and its allies for weakening Syria\u2019s backers \u2014 Russia, Iran and Hezbollah. He called the fall of Assad a \u201cfundamental act of justice\u201d but also a \u201cmoment of risk and uncertainty,\u201d and said rebel groups are \u201csaying the right things now\u201d but the U.S. would assess their actions.<\/p>\n
Russia requested an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council to discuss Syria, according to Dmitry Polyansky, its deputy ambassador to the U.N., in a post on Telegram.<\/p>\n
The arrival of Assad and his family in Moscow was reported by Russian agencies Tass and RIA, citing an unidentified source at the Kremlin. A spokesman there didn\u2019t immediately respond to questions. RIA also said Syrian insurgents had guaranteed the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic posts in Syria.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Russia said Assad left Syria after negotiations with rebel groups and that he had given instructions to transfer power peacefully.<\/p>\n
The leader of Syria\u2019s biggest rebel faction, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, is poised to chart the country\u2019s future. The former al-Qaida commander cut ties with the group years ago and says he embraces pluralism and religious tolerance. His Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the U.N.<\/p>\n
In his first public appearance since fighters entered the Damascus suburbs Saturday, al-Golani visited the Umayyad Mosque and described Assad\u2019s fall as \u201ca victory to the Islamic nation.\u201d Calling himself by his given name, Ahmad al-Sharaa, and not his nom de guerre, he said Assad had made Syria \u201ca farm for Iran\u2019s greed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Assad loses control of Syria after a stunning rebel advance reached the capital<\/p>\n
The rebels face the daunting task of healing bitter divisions in a country ravaged by war and split among armed factions. Turkey-backed opposition fighters are battling U.S.-allied Kurdish forces in the north, and the Islamic State group is still active in remote areas.<\/p>\n
Syrian state television broadcast a rebel statement saying Assad had been overthrown and all prisoners had been released. They urged people to preserve the institutions of \u201cthe free Syrian state,\u201d and announced a curfew in Damascus from 4 p.m. to 5 a.m.<\/p>\n
An online video purported to show rebels freeing dozens of women at the notorious Saydnaya prison, where rights groups say thousands were tortured and killed. At least one small child was seen among them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis happiness will not be completed until I can see my son out of prison and know where is he,\u201d said one relative, Bassam Masr. \u201cI have been searching for him for two hours. He has been detained for 13 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebel commander Anas Salkhadi appeared on state TV and sought to reassure religious and ethnic minorities, saying: \u201cSyria is for everyone, no exceptions. Syria is for Druze, Sunnis, Alawites, and all sects.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will not deal with people the way the Assad family did,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Celebrations in the capital<\/p>\n
Damascus residents prayed in mosques and celebrated in squares, calling, \u201cGod is great.\u201d People chanted anti-Assad slogans and honked car horns. Teenage boys picked up weapons apparently discarded by security forces and fired into the air.<\/p>\n
Soldiers and police fled their posts and looters broke into the Defense Ministry. Families wandered the presidential palace, walking by damaged portraits of Assad. Other parts of the capital were empty and shops were closed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like a dream. I need someone to wake me up,\u201d said opposition fighter Abu Laith, adding the rebels were welcomed in Damascus with \u201clove.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebels stood guard at the Justice Ministry, where Judge Khitam Haddad said he and colleagues were protecting documents. Outside, residents sought information about relatives who disappeared under Assad.<\/p>\n
The rebels \u201chave felt the pain of the people,\u201d said one woman, giving only her first name, Heba. She worried about possible revenge killings by the rebels, many of whom appeared to be underage.<\/p>\n
Syria\u2019s historically pro-government newspaper al-Watan called it \u201ca new page for Syria. We thank God for not shedding more blood.\u201d It added that media workers should not be blamed for publishing past government statements ordered from above.<\/p>\n
A statement from the Alawite sect that formed the core of Assad\u2019s base called on young Syrians to be \u201ccalm, rational and prudent and not to be dragged into what tears apart the unity of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rebels mainly come from the Sunni Muslim majority in Syria, which also has sizable Druze, Christian and Kurdish communities. In Qamishli in the northeast, a Kurdish man slapped a statue of the late leader Hafez Assad with his shoe.<\/p>\n
Calls for an orderly transition<\/p>\n
The rebel advances since Nov. 27 were the largest in recent years, and saw the cities of Aleppo, Hama and Homs fall within days as the Syrian army melted away. The road to Damascus from the Lebanese border was littered with military uniforms and charred armored vehicles.<\/p>\n
Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, which provided crucial support to Assad, abandoned him as they reeled from other conflicts.<\/p>\n
The end of Assad\u2019s rule was a major blow to Iran and its proxies, already weakened by conflict with Israel. Iran said Syrians should decide their future \u201cwithout destructive, coercive, foreign intervention.\u201d The Iranian Embassy in Damascus was ransacked after apparently having been abandoned.<\/p>\n
Hossein Akbari, Iran\u2019s ambassador to Syria, said it was \u201ceffectively impossible\u201d to help the Syrian government after it admitted the insurgents\u2019 military superiority. Speaking on Iranian state media from an undisclosed location, he said Syria\u2019s government decided Saturday night to hand over power peacefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the army and the people could not resist, it was a good decision to let go to prevent bloodshed and destruction,\u201d Akbari said, adding that some of his colleagues left Syria before sunrise.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking on state TV, said there were concerns about the \u201cpossibility of civil war, disintegration of Syria, total collapse and turning Syria into a shelter for terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali has said the government was ready to \u201cextend its hand\u201d to the opposition and turn its functions over to a transitional government. A video on Syrian opposition media showed armed men escorting him from his office to a hotel.<\/p>\n
The U.N.\u2019s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, has called for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an \u201corderly political transition.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Gulf nation of Qatar, a key regional mediator, hosted an emergency meeting of foreign ministers and top officials from eight countries with interests in Syria late Saturday, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Turkey.<\/p>\n
Majed al-Ansari, Qatar\u2019s Foreign Ministry spokesman, said they agreed on the need \u201cto engage all parties on the ground,\u201d including the HTS, and that the main concern is \u201cstability and safe transition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli troops had seized a buffer zone in the Golan Heights established in 1974, saying it was to protect Israeli residents after Syrian troops abandoned positions. Israel\u2019s military later warned residents of five southern Syria communities to stay home for their safety, and didn\u2019t respond to questions.<\/p>\n
Israel captured the Golan in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed it. The international community, except for the U.S., views it as occupied, and the Arab League on Sunday condemned what it called Israel\u2019s efforts to take advantage of Assad\u2019s downfall to occupy more territory.<\/p>\n
Source: AP
\n–Agencies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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