Abandoned relatives and officials to their fate: Reuters revealed details of Assad’s escape

The operation to safely remove Assad from Syria was led by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has not warned his supporters and family members that he is about to evacuate Syria , Reuters reported , citing 14 people familiar with Assad’s final days in Damascus.

Hours before his evacuation, Assad held a meeting at the Syrian Defense Ministry attended by about 30 army commanders and senior intelligence officials. At the meeting, the president announced that military aid from Russia was on its way and urged troops to hold their ground.

After Assad finished his workday, he told the manager of the presidential office that he was going home and headed to the airport. He also asked his media consultant, Botina Shaban, to come to his home and write a speech for him. When she got to Assad’s residence, no one was there.

“Assad didn’t even make a final statement. He didn’t support his own troops. He left his supporters to their own devices,” said Nadim Khoury, head of the Arab Reform Initiative think tank.

The dictator did not warn his immediate family about his escape. His brother, Maher al-Assad, commander of the elite 4th Armored Division, was forced to evacuate Syria on his own, flying by helicopter to Iraq and then to Russia.

The Syrian president also abandoned his cousins, Eyad and Ihab Makhlouf, in Damascus. They tried to flee by car to Lebanon, but were ambushed on the way. Ihab was eventually shot dead and Eyad was wounded. It is unknown what happened to him now.

Several sources told Reuters that Assad initially wanted to seek asylum in the United Arab Emirates, but the country’s authorities refused him because they feared a negative international reaction.

The operation to safely evacuate Assad from Syria was led by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Reuters reports. He held talks with Turkey and Qatar, which had ties to the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that seized power in Syria. As a result, Ankara and Doha persuaded the Islamists to release Assad from the country. Lavrov “did everything he could” to evacuate the Syrian president, Reuters sources say.

(C)UNIAN 2024