Moscow, December 8 (IANS): Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his family have reached Moscow after fleeing the country. Russian media has given this information quoting top officials. Let us tell you that Russia had supported Assad in the Syrian civil war.
Russia’s government news agency Tass, quoting a Kremlin source, informed that Assad and his family have reached Moscow and Russia has given them asylum for humanitarian reasons.
“Russia has always spoken in favor of a political solution to the Syrian crisis. We insist that UN-mediated talks be resumed,” the source said.
“Russian officials are in contact with representatives of the armed Syrian opposition, whose leaders have guaranteed the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic missions on Syrian territory,” the Kremlin source said.
Let us tell you that rebel groups had captured the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday, after which President Assad fled the country.
Bashar al-Assad, 59, took power in 2000 after the death of his father Hafez al-Assad. His father had been ruling the country since 1971.
2011 was the most important year of his rule when thousands of Syrian citizens took to the streets demanding democracy, but they faced heavy government repression. However, various armed rebel groups formed in opposition to the government and by mid-2012, the rebellion escalated into a full-scale civil war.
Assad successfully fought rebel groups for years with the help of Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. But the rebel groups that suddenly became active recently created a big problem for the Syrian President because Assad’s three allies – Russia, Hezbollah and Iran and Israel – were embroiled in their own conflicts.
According to media reports, Assad’s army was destroyed by years of war and many soldiers did not even want to fight on his side.
The fall of Assad’s regime is a major blow to Russia and Iran, which have lost an important ally in the region.
–IANS
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