Erstwhile Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
By Geofrey Kerry
The 24-year rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is over after rebels swept into the capital of Damascus.
The fighters, who have been waging a war against the government for 13 years, have declared the city “liberated,” and Syrians have been celebrating in the streets.
It’s the culmination of an extraordinary week that saw the rebel forces undertake a lightning advance in key cities, signaling an astonishing reordering of power in a strategically vital Middle Eastern nation.
President al-Assad has left Syria, Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Assad “decided to leave the presidential post and left the country, giving instructions to transfer power peacefully,” the statement said, adding that “Russia did not participate in these negotiations.”
The BBC reports quoting sources that the plane carrying Al-Assad departed at around 00:56 on Sunday bound for Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“The plane landed in Sharjah on time.
”But a diplomatic adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates told reporters in Bahrain that he did not know if Assad was in the UAE,” it said.
Reuters news agency cited two unnamed senior Syrian army officers as saying that Assad had boarded a Syrian Air plane at Damascus airport early on Sunday.
Syria’s prime minister said in a recorded message that the government stands ready “to cooperate with any leadership the people choose.”
He was seen in a video being escorted by rebels. The rebels who are led by Islamists have said minorities will be protected.
One U.S. official told CNN that events in Syria mark the collapse of “Iran’s artifice” across the Middle East.
The toppling of the Iran-backed Assad follows the decimation of key Tehran proxies Hezbollah and Hamas in conflicts with Israel over the past 14 months.
The 59-year-old erstwhile President was Syria’s 19th leader, who succeeded his father, Hafez Al-Assad, who died in 2000 after ruling from 1971 until his demise.
The duo ruled the Arab nation for a combined period of nearly half a century.
