Former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has issued his first statement since his ouster by Turkey-backed jihadist rebels, denying he fled the country as “part of a plan” and claiming he initially intended to carry on fighting from the Alawite heartland of Latakia. “As terrorism spread across Syria and ultimately reached Damascus on the evening of Saturday 7 December 2024, questions arose about the president’s fate and whereabouts,” reads the statement—posted to a Telegram account associated with the Syrian presidency but not yet independently verified. It complains of “a flood of misinformation and narratives far removed from the truth, aimed at recasting international terrorism as a liberation revolution for Syria.”

Assad, if he is the author of the statement, said he traveled to the Russian airbase of Hmeimim in Latakia, only hours after rebel forces had entered Damascus, intending to “oversee combat operations.” Latakia is home to most of Syria’s Alawite minority, which the Assad clan hails from, and he may have hoped members of the Shia offshoot sect would offer stiffer resistance to the mostly Sunni jihadists of the Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group than government forces elsewhere.

However, Assad claims he found that Syrian soldiers had already left their posts and that the Russians made the decision to exfiltrate after Hmeimim began to be targeted by drones.

“With no viable means of leaving the base, Moscow requested that the base’s command arrange an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday 8 December,” Assad said. “This took place a day after the fall of Damascus, following the collapse of the final military positions and the resulting paralysis of all remaining state institutions.”

NO PLAN TO LEAVE. 

“At no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge, nor was such a proposal made by any individual or part,” Assad insisted, claiming that, in his mind, the “only course of action was to continue fighting against the terrorist onslaught,” and he “did not leave the country as part of a plan as it was reported earlier.”

The whereabouts of Assad, his wife Asma, and their three children were initially unclear. Russian officials later confirmed their departure following negotiations with rebels. There are concerns hundreds of thousands of Syrians, including Alawites like Assad, may attempt to leave the country like their former leader, fearing reprisals by the al-Qaeda-linked new regime.

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Image by watchsmart. 

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