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Syria’s deposed president Bashar al-Assad has denied that his exit from the country was pre-arranged, saying that he stayed until he found out about the complete withdrawal of his troops.
In his first statement since he was ousted by a rebel offensive, Assad said he stayed in Damascus until the early hours of Sunday last week when he moved to the Russian base at Hmeimim on the Mediterranean coast. He said as drone attacks were launched on the base and as leaving the base by land became impossible, Moscow put in a request to the new leadership for his immediate evacuation to Russia.
“My departure was neither planned nor did it occur during the final hours of the battle,” he said. “At no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge, nor was such a proposal made by any individual or party.”
The statement was published by the former Syrian presidency’s official Telegram channel and Facebook page, which it said was the “only viable option” after attempts to publish through Arab and international media outlets were unsuccessful. It was also carried by Tass Russian news agency.
In the rambling statement, he also said that his silence following the offensive was because communications were cut for security purposes.
This is a developing story