Bashar al-Assad confided in almost no one about his plans to flee Syria as his reign collapsed. Instead, aides, officials and even relatives were deceived or kept in the dark, more than a dozen people with knowledge of the events told Reuters.
A giant picture of Syrian President Bashar Assad lies on the ground as a Syrian opposition fighter stands nearby, inside the Presidential Palace in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024.
Reuters was unable to contact Assad in Moscow, where he has been granted political asylum. Interviews with 14 people familiar with his final days and hours in power paint a picture of a leader casting around for outside help to extend his 24-year rule before leaning on deception and stealth to plot his exit from Syria in the early hours of Sunday.
Assad's maternal cousins, Ehab and Eyad Makhlouf, were similarly left behind as Damascus fell to the rebels, according to a Syrian aide and Lebanese security official. The pair tried to flee by car to Lebanon but were ambushed on the way by rebels who shot Ehab dead and wounded Eyad, they said. There was no official confirmation of the death and Reuters was unable to independently verify the incident.
Videos of Assad's home, taken by rebels and citizens who thronged the presidential complex following his flight and posted on social media, suggest he made a hasty exit, showing cooked food left on the stove and several personal belongings left behind, such as family photo albums. Hadi al-Bahra, the head of Syria's main opposition abroad, said that Assad didn't convey the reality of the situation to aides back home, citing a source within Assad's close circle and a regional official.
Assad was visibly distressed during the meeting, and conceded that his army was too weakened to mount an effective resistance, a senior Iranian diplomat told Reuters. Three members of Assad's inner circle said he initially wanted to seek refuge in the United Arab Emirates, as rebels seized Aleppo and Homs and were advancing towards Damascus.
One Western security source said that Lavrov did"whatever he could" to secure Assad's safe departure. Qatar's foreign ministry didn't immediately respond to queries about Assad's exit, while Reuters was unable to reach HTS for comment. A Turkish government official said there was no Russian request to use Turkish airspace for Assad's flight, though didn't address whether Ankara worked with HTS to facilitate the escape.
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Ontario Provincial Police say a man caught stunt driving on Highway 37 near Tweed, Ont. Thursday was 80 years old, and his licence was expired.A furry, four-legged shopper was spotted in the aisles of a Giant Tiger store in Stratford, Ont. on Sunday morning. A Calgary furnace company stepped up big time Friday to help a Calgary family grieving the loss of a loved one.The B.C. New Democratic and Green parties have reached an "agreement in principle" on a "co-operation and responsible government accord" that will see the parties work together to achieve specific legislative goals in the coming session.
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