The assertion was printed on the Fb web page of the Syrian Presidency, which was linked to the now ousted authorities.
In it, Assad claims there was a “flood of misinformation” surrounding the circumstances of his exit from Syria.
“First, my departure from Syria was neither deliberate nor did it happen in the course of the closing hours of the battles, as some have claimed. Quite the opposite, I remained in Damascus, finishing up my duties till the early hours of Sunday eighth December 2024,” learn the assertion.
He mentioned he then moved to Latakia with a view to “oversee fight operations” on the Hmeimim airbase alongside his Russian allies. The bottom then got here below drone assault and the management in Moscow ordered the evacuation to Russia.
“At no level throughout these occasions did I think about stepping down or in search of refuge, nor was such a proposal made by any particular person or get together,” added the assertion.
“The one plan of action was to proceed preventing in opposition to the terrorist onslaught.”
The assertion stands in distinction to testimony from former authorities insiders who say Assad’s escape from Syria had been organised prematurely.
Greater than a dozen folks with data of the occasions instructed Reuters final week that Assad had been searching for a method in a foreign country since at the very least 2 December, and that he had initially tried to hunt refuge within the UAE, however was refused.
Russia had been closely supportive of the Assad authorities in Syria and their intervention in 2015 was thought to have decisively turned the conflict in Assad’s favour after years of shedding floor.
There are a variety of Russian bases in Syria, which made the nation a key ally for Moscow within the area.
Nevertheless, Russia was both unable or unwilling to stymie a lightning takeover of main Syrian cities together with Hama, Aleppo and Homs, which ended with the toppling of Assad’s authorities.
Within the Monday assertion, Assad mentioned he had by no means led Syria for “private acquire” however as a substitute noticed himself because the “custodian” of Syria who defended the nation as much as the final second.
He added that he additionally “by no means deserted the resistance in Palestine and Lebanon”.
“When the state falls into the fingers of terrorism and the power to make a significant contribution is misplaced, any place turns into void of objective, rendering its occupation meaningless.”
“This doesn’t, in any method, diminish my profound sense of belonging to Syria and her folks – a bond that is still unshaken by any place or circumstance,” he acknowledged.
