Camille Naredo

A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is pictured with its frame broken, in a Syrian regime's Political Security Branch facility on the outskirts of the central city of Hama, following the capture of the area by anti-government forces, on December 7, 2024. Omar Haj Kadour, AFP/File

A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is pictured with its frame broken, in a Syrian regime's Political Security Branch facility on the outskirts of the central city of Hama, following the capture of the area by anti-government forces, on December 7, 2024. - Syria's embattled government said on December 7 it was setting up a ring of steel around Damascus, state media reported, as rebels on a lightning advance said they were bearing down on the city. The leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group which has headed the assault, told fighters to prepare to take Damascus, just over a week into a renewed offensive in the long dormant conflict. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

Article (news)

SYRIA

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1734363500905AFP__20241207__36PT7PR__v1__Preview__SyriaConflictHama.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is pictured with its frame broken, in a Syrian regime&#x27;s Political Security Branch facility on the outskirts of the central city of Hama, following the capture of the area by anti-government forces, on December 7, 2024. Omar Haj Kadour, AFP/File"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is pictured with its frame broken, in a Syrian regime&#x27;s Political Security Branch facility on the outskirts of the central city of Hama, following the capture of the area by anti-government forces, on December 7, 2024. <em>Omar Haj Kadour, AFP/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>DAMASCUS, Syria -- Ousted president Bashar al-Assad broke his silence Monday after fleeing Syria, saying in a statement that he only left once Damascus had fallen and denounced the country&#x27;s new leaders as &quot;terrorists&quot;.</p><p>Assad fled to Russia just over a week ago, as a lightning offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) wrested from his control city after city until the rebels reached the Syrian capital.</p><p>The collapse of Assad&#x27;s rule stunned the world and sparked celebrations around Syria and beyond, after his crackdown on democracy protests in 2011 sparked one of the deadliest wars of the century.</p><p>Rooted in Syria&#x27;s branch of Al-Qaeda, HTS is proscribed by several Western governments as a terrorist organization, though it has sought to moderate its rhetoric and pledged to protect the country&#x27;s religious minorities.</p><p>Long before the emergence of HTS and jihadist groups in the Syrian war, however, Assad consistently branded his opponents, including non-violent protesters, as &quot;terrorists&quot;.</p><p>&quot;My departure from Syria was neither planned nor did it occur during the final hours of the battles,&quot; said a statement on the ousted presidency&#x27;s Telegram channel.</p><p>Assad was propped up throughout the war by Russia and Iran.</p><p>&quot;Moscow requested... an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday December 8&quot; after he moved that day to Latakia, where Russia operates a naval base, the statement said.</p><p>&quot;When the state falls into the hands of terrorism and the ability to make a meaningful contribution is lost, any position becomes void of purpose,&quot; added the statement, released in English.</p><p>Assad&#x27;s fall sparked rejoicing in Syria and around the world after five decades of rule by his clan, which had zero tolerance for dissent and which operated a complex web of prisons to detain anyone even suspected of dissent.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/15/a-week-after-assads-fall-un-urges-justice-not-revenge-0129">READ: A week after Assad&#x27;s fall, UN urges justice, not revenge</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/15/back-to-school-for-many-children-in-damascus-2031">READ: Back to school for many children in Damascus</a></div><div><strong>- &#x27;We want our children&#x27; -</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2fFd7fjdHKM?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span>To the victims of some of Assad&#x27;s worst atrocities, the end of his era brought a glimmer of hope that they might find closure.</div><p>As HTS and its allies advanced through Syria, they opened prison gates to free people suspected of dissent who had been held for days, months, years and even decades.</p><p>&quot;We want our children, alive, dead, burned, ashes, buried in mass graves... just tell us,&quot; Ayoush Hassan, 66, told AFP at Saydnaya, one of the prisons Assad had used to strike fear into Syrian society.</p><p>She travelled to the prison in Damascus from her home in northern Syria, but could find no trace of her missing son.</p><p>According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 100,000 people died in Syria&#x27;s jails and detention centers from 2011.</p><p>Ghazi Mohammed al-Mohammed, a survivor of detention, told AFP that officers seized him while he was on a trip to Damascus, took away his papers and said to him: &quot;Now you&#x27;re number 3006.&quot;</p><p>He does not even know why he was arrested.</p><p>&quot;Towards the end I just wanted to die, waiting for when they would execute us. I was almost happy, as it would mean my suffering was over,&quot; he said.</p><p>The war sparked by Assad&#x27;s crackdown on the revolt killed more than 500,000 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and forced more than half the population to flee their homes.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/14/-friday-of-victory-mass-rallies-across-syria-celebrate-end-of-assad-1655">READ: Mass rallies across Syria celebrate end of Assad</a></div><div><strong>- &#x27;We can&#x27;t leave a vacuum&#x27; -</strong></div><div><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAEyze-tm4MR6kEa&amp;cid=ABR2qfeup-ViZjKT&amp;activation=click&amp;vip_mode=playing&amp;vip_position=bottom-right"></script></div><p>Governments around the world have welcomed the downfall of Assad, who came under sanctions over the abuses committed under his authority.</p><p>EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Monday the bloc&#x27;s envoy to Syria would travel to Damascus to make contacts, adding: &quot;We can&#x27;t leave a vacuum.&quot;</p><p>On whether HTS could be trusted, she was cautious.</p><p>&quot;For us, it&#x27;s not only the words, but we want to see the deeds going to the right direction,&quot; she said. &quot;So not only what they are saying, but also what they are doing.&quot;</p><p>The UN envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, told HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani Syria must have a &quot;credible and inclusive&quot; transition, according to a statement on Monday.</p><p>Qatar&#x27;s embassy is set to resume operations on Tuesday after Turkey, a key backer of some of the rebel groups that ousted Assad, reopened its embassy.</p><p>Britain and the United States confirmed they were in touch with HTS, despite officially considering the organization a &quot;terrorist&quot; group.</p><p>A French diplomatic team is due in Damascus on Tuesday to &quot;retake possession of our real estate&quot; and make &quot;initial contact&quot; with the new authorities, acting Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said.</p><p>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country was coordinating on providing aid including wheat, flour and oil to Syria.</p><p>Ukraine has been at war since Russia invaded in 2022.</p><div><strong>- &#x27;Solidarity by everyone&#x27; -</strong></div><p>A cautious sense of calm is returning to many cities, but Damascus&#x27;s interim governor acknowledged that major obstacles lie ahead.</p><p>&quot;The challenges we are facing right now are the massive destruction of the institutional structure in terms of human resources, local economy, and the social structure,&quot; said Maher Marwan.</p><p>&quot;This is a reality that requires great effort and awareness, in addition to solidarity by everyone at this phase.&quot;</p><p>Since Assad&#x27;s fall, both Israel and Turkey have carried out military strikes inside Syria.</p><p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted his country has &quot;no interest in confronting Syria&quot;, despite launching hundreds of strikes over the past week.</p><p>&quot;Israel&#x27;s policy toward Syria will be determined by the evolving reality on the ground,&quot; he said in a video statement.</p><p>Those strikes continued early Monday, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reporting raids on military sites in the coastal Tartus region.</p><p>The UK-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria, said the raids were &quot;the heaviest strikes&quot; in the area in more than a decade.</p><p>Israel has also ordered troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, a move the UN said violated a 1974 armistice.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>Ousted president Bashar al-Assad broke his silence Monday after fleeing Syria, saying in a statement that he only left once Damascus had fallen and denounced the country's new leaders as "terrorists".</p>

Ousted president Bashar al-Assad broke his silence Monday after fleeing Syria, saying in a statement that he only left once Damascus had fallen and denounced the country's new leaders as "terrorists".

Assad says Syria in hands of 'terrorists'

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Assad says Syria in hands of 'terrorists'

Agence France-Presse,

Maher Al Mounes with Marisol Rifai in Beirut

Published December 17, 2024 12:23 AM PHT

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