On December 11, a poster of Bashar al-Assad is defaced with red paint on a wall in Damascus, Syria. Claire Harbage/NPR Hide caption
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Claire Harbage/NPR
DAMASCUS, SYRIA – Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is believed to have made his first remarks since rebels took control of the country, more than a week after he announced his departure from the country. claimed that it was “not planned and did not happen in the final hours of the year.” It’s a fight against rebel forces he calls “terrorists.”
The statement attributed to Assad was posted in English from Moscow to the deposed Syrian president’s account on the messaging app Telegram on December 16. “Several attempts to issue a statement through Arabic and international media were unsuccessful,” the Telegram post said.
The paper claims he fought alongside the army to the end “in the most dangerous and violent battlefields, just meters from terrorists.”
As the rebels entered the capital on December 8, Assad moved to a military air base in the port city of Latakia in coordination with his Russian allies, the statement said.
The statement went on to say that upon arriving at the base, it was clear that his troops had withdrawn from all fronts and all positions had collapsed. The newspaper said the base came under a drone attack that night and Moscow arranged for an immediate evacuation. The Kremlin then granted Assad asylum in Russia.
“During these events, I did not consider resigning or taking refuge at any point, nor was there any such suggestion from any individual or political party,” the statement said. “The only course of action was to continue fighting the onslaught of terrorists.”
Assad’s regime collapsed just over a week ago when rebel forces led by the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) stormed Damascus. The leader of HTS is Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, who has a $10 million US bounty on his head and a $10 million US bounty on his head. designated as a terrorist by
Shaller has appeared several times since the group’s victory, calling on the international community to send support and aid to Syria.
However, each country is struggling with how to communicate with Syria’s interim leadership. The European Union on Monday laid out conditions for lifting sanctions that have devastated Syria’s economy. The EU said it wants assurances that Syria’s interim government plans a peaceful political transition that includes minorities.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday that the US had “direct contact” with HTS, but did not elaborate on the details of the discussions.
