DAMASCUS: Ousted President Bashar al-Assad broke his silence after fleeing Syria on Monday, saying in a statement that he only left after the fall of Damascus and calling the country’s new leaders “terrorists”.
Assad fled to Russia just over a week ago, after a lightning operation by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) wrested city after city from his control until the rebels reached the Syrian capital.
The end of Assad’s rule stunned the world and sparked celebrations in Syria and beyond after a 2011 crackdown on pro-democracy protests sparked one of the century’s deadliest wars.
Rooted in al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch, HTS has been banned as a terrorist organization by several Western governments, although it has tried to moderate its rhetoric and pledged to protect the country’s religious minorities.
A statement on the ousted president’s Telegram channel said, “My departure from Syria was not planned nor did it happen during the last hours of the fighting.”
Russia and Iran supported Assad throughout the war.
“Moscow requested an immediate withdrawal from Russia on the evening of Sunday, December 8” after it moved to Latakia, where Russia operates a naval base, that day, the statement said.
“When a state falls into the hands of terrorism and loses its ability to make a meaningful contribution, any position becomes meaningless,” the statement, issued in English, added.
Assad’s downfall sparked a wave of jubilation in Syria and around the world after five decades of rule by his clan, which had zero tolerance for criticism and an elaborate prison system for anyone suspected of dissent. was
‘We want our children’
For victims of Assad’s worst atrocities, the end of his tenure offers a glimmer of hope that they may be coming to an end.
As HTS and its allies advanced into Syria, they opened prison doors to release suspected dissidents who had been imprisoned for days, months, years, and even decades.
Ayush Hasan, 66, said: “We want our children, alive, dead, cremated, ashes, buried in mass graves… AFP In Saidnaya, one of Assad’s prisons was used to instill fear in Syrian society.
He traveled from his home in northern Syria to a prison in Damascus, but could find no trace of his missing son.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 100,000 people have died in Syrian prisons and detention centers since 2011.
Ghazi Muhammad Al-Mohammed, who survived the detention, said AFP While he was on a visit to Damascus, officers caught him, took away his papers and told him: “Your number is now 3006.”
He doesn’t even know why he was arrested.
“By the end I just wanted to die, waiting for them to execute us. I was almost happy, because it would mean the end of my suffering,” he said.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the war, which began with a crackdown on Assad’s rebellion, has killed more than 500,000 people and forced more than half the population from their homes.
‘We can leave no gap’
Governments around the world have welcomed the fall of Assad, who had been under sanctions for his abuses.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallis said on Monday that the bloc’s envoy to Syria would go to Damascus for contacts, adding: “We cannot leave a vacuum.”
On whether HTS could be trusted, she was cautious.
He said that for us it is not just words but we want to see actions going in the right direction. “So not just what they’re saying, but what they’re doing.”
UN Syria envoy Geir Pedersen told HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani that there must be a “credible and inclusive” transition in Syria, according to a statement on Monday.
Qatar’s embassy is set to resume operations on Tuesday after Turkey, a key backer of the rebel groups that ousted Assad, reopened its embassy.
Britain and the United States confirmed they were in contact with HTS, despite officially considering the organization a “terrorist” group.
Acting Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Birot said a French diplomatic team was due to “recapture our property” in Damascus on Tuesday and make “initial contact” with the new authorities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said his country was cooperating to provide aid to Syria, including wheat, flour and oil.
Ukraine has been at war since the invasion of Russia in 2022.
‘like an earthquake’
A cautious sense of calm is returning to many cities, but the interim governor of Damascus admits there are major obstacles ahead.
“The challenges we are facing right now are massive destruction of institutional structures in terms of human resources, local economy and social infrastructure,” said Meher Marwan.
“This is a reality that requires a lot of effort and awareness, apart from solidarity from everyone at this stage.”
Since the fall of Assad, both Israel and Turkey have launched military strikes inside Syria.