Bashar al-Assad in Moscow, Syria’s deposed president gets asylum in Russia, UN says…

For Syrians, it brought a sudden unexpected end to a war in deep freeze for years, with hundreds of thousands dead, cities pounded to dust and an economy hollowed by global sanctions.

Syria Crisis: In a major development, Syria’s deposed President Bashar al-Assad has reportedly fled to Moscow. According to the State media Tass, Assad flew to Moscow on Sunday. This comes hours after Russia claimed that 59-year-old fled after his government was overthrown by rebels.

A source told Tass news agency: “Assad and members of his family have arrived in Moscow, Russia, based on humanitarian considerations, granted them asylum. On Sunday, Russia’s foreign ministry said that al-Assad held talks with several parties before resigning. It claimed that the deposed president left the country after instructing the administration about the peaceful transfer of power.

“As a result of talks between B. Assad and a range of participants of the conflict on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic, he decided to resign from his presidential post and leave the country, giving instructions to proceed with the peaceful transfer of power,” Moscow’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday. “Russia did not take part in these talks,” it added.

Syrian rebels seized the capital Damascus unopposed on Sunday after a lightning advance that sent President Bashar al-Assad fleeing to Russia after a 13-year civil war and six decades of his family’s autocratic rule.

His sudden overthrow, at the hands of a revolt partly backed by Turkey and with roots in jihadist Sunni Islam, limits Iran’s ability to spread weapons to its allies and could cost Russia its Mediterranean naval base. It could allow millions of refugees scattered for more than a decade in camps across Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan to finally return home.

For Syrians, it brought a sudden unexpected end to a war in deep freeze for years, with hundreds of thousands dead, cities pounded to dust and an economy hollowed by global sanctions.

UN ISSUES STATEMENT

Meanwhile Israel and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the end of Syria’s ‘dictatorial regime’. “After 14 years of brutal war and the fall of the dictatorial regime, today the people of Syria can seize an historic opportunity to build a stable and peaceful future,” Guterres said in a statement.