Egypt Daily News – Today, Monday, former President Bashar al-Assad issued the first statement following the overthrow of his regime and his escape to Moscow, in which he spoke about the circumstances of his exit from Syria.
According to the statement published by the Syrian Presidency Channel via the “Telegram” application, from Moscow on December 16, 2024, Al-Assad said: “With the expansion of terrorism in Syria, and its arrival in the capital, Damascus, on the evening of Saturday, December 7, 2024, questions began to be asked about the president’s fate and place, amid a torrent of the confusion and narratives that are far from the truth constitute support for the process of installing international terrorism as a revolution to liberate Syria.”
He added: “At a pivotal historical moment in the life of the nation in which the truth should have a place, there is something that requires clarification through a brief statement, which these circumstances and the subsequent complete cessation of communication for security reasons did not allow for it to be made, and whose brief points do not suffice in listing the details of each.” “What happened later, when the opportunity arose.”
He continued: “First of all, I did not leave the country in a planned manner as was rumored, nor did I leave it during the last hours of the battles. Rather, I remained in Damascus following up on my responsibilities until the early morning hours of Sunday, December 8, 2024.”
He continued: “With the expansion of terrorism inside Damascus, I moved, in coordination with Russian friends, to Latakia to follow up on the hostilities there, and upon arriving at the Hmeimim base in the morning, it became clear that the forces had withdrawn from all combat lines, and the fall of the last army positions with the further deterioration of the field reality in that region, and the escalation of the attack.”
On the Russian military base itself with unmanned aerial vehicles, and in light of the impossibility of leaving the base in any direction, Moscow asked the base leadership to work on securing the immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday, December 8, that is, the day after the fall of Damascus, after the fall of the last military sites and the subsequent paralysis of the rest of the state institutions.”
He continued: “During those events, the issue of asylum or resignation was not raised by me or by any person or entity, and the only option presented was to continue fighting in defense in the face of the terrorist attack.”
He continued: “In this context, I emphasize that whoever refused from the first day of the war to trade the salvation of his country for personal salvation, or to bargain for his people with various offers and temptations, is the same one who stood with the officers and soldiers of his army on the first lines of fire, and at a distance of dozens of meters from the terrorists in the hottest and most dangerous hotspot of conflict, and he is the same one who did not leave during the most difficult years of the war and stayed with his family and people facing terrorism under bombardment and the danger of terrorists storming the capital more.
He said that he did not abandon the non-Syrian resistance in Palestine and Lebanon, and did not betray his allies who stood with him, cannot be the same person who abandons his people to whom he belongs, or betrays them and their army.”
He concluded his statement by saying: “I was never one of those seeking office on a personal level. Rather, I considered myself the owner of a national project that derived its support from a people who believed in it, and I carried certainty in the will of that people and in their ability to preserve their state and defend their institutions and choices until the last moment.
With the fall of the state in the hands of terrorism, and the loss of the ability to provide anything, the position becomes empty and meaningless, and there is no meaning for the official to remain in it.
This does not mean in any way abandoning the authentic national affiliation to Syria and its people, a fixed affiliation that is not changed by position or circumstance. A belonging filled with hope that a free and independent Syria will return.”
