Syria’s toppled leader Bashar al-Assad has made a statement for the first time since fleeing Syria after jihadist groups led by US-designated terror organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took over the country and the army peeled away without a fight.
The statement was posted Monday to the Syrian Presidency's Telegram account; however, it can't be independently verified that he personally made the statement. Assad is with his family in Moscow, where they have received asylum from the Russian government.
The posted letter describes that Syria's collapse was the result of terrorism and that his leaving was not planned. He said he was evacuated to Russia from the Khmeimim airbase on the Syrian coast. This happened the evening of December 8, and the letter further describes that the base was coming under drone attacks and the security situation deteriorating. He suggested he wanted to stay and fight.
"My departure from Syria was neither planned nor did it occur during the final hours of the battles, as some have claimed. On the contrary, I remained in Damascus, carrying out my duties until the early hours of Sunday 8th December 2024," the statement said.
"With no viable means of leaving the base, Moscow requested that the base’s command arrange an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday 8th December. This took place a day after the fall of Damascus, following the collapse of the final military positions and the resulting paralysis of all remaining state institutions," the statement continued.
"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 only course of action was to continue fighting against the terrorist onslaught," it added.
But the statement does say that as state institutions collapsed that his position as president of the country quickly became "void of purpose" as by then Syria was overrun by "terrorists".
"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, rendering its occupation meaningless," Assad added.
BREAKING🚨Bashar Al Assad has issued his version of events on the last days of #Syria 🇸🇾
— Syrian Girl 🇸🇾 (@Partisangirl) December 16, 2024
But the question remains. Who ordered the army to retreat? Because it’s absolutely known they were given orders to retreat. pic.twitter.com/7aMNXqvscT
Assad's precise whereabouts or the timeline of events of his exit had been unknown for days even after he was in Moscow. It appears many of this top officials, including his brother Maher, had fled either across the Iraq border or to Dubai. For example, Assad's top media advisor Bouthaina Shaaban was spotted in Dubai's airport.
Western media sources are currently alleging that in recent years Assad had $250 million in cash flown from Syria to Russia. The media is presenting this as him having looted the country's central bank, but the airlifts took place a number of years ago:
The Financial Times (FT) said that it had uncovered records showing that Assad's regime flew two tonnes of banknotes into Moscow between 2018 and 2019 to be deposited at Russian banks. Newsweek has contacted the Russian foreign ministry for comment.
The FT says that Syria's central bank airlifted $250 million in cash to Russia at a time when Assad was indebted to Moscow and the Middle Eastern country was desperately short of foreign currency.
Likely this was also done to bypass Western sanctions, and given Russia has long been a hub of Assad family finances.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported last week that "The vaults in Syria's central bank were left unscathed by looters in the turmoil that briefly engulfed the capital Damascus after the overthrow of president Bashar al-Assad, a senior business leader and three other sources told Reuters." According to more breaking developments:
- SYRIA RETAINS NEARLY 26 TONS OF GOLD RESERVES INSIDE CENTRAL BANK VAULT - SOURCES
- SYRIA'S CENTRAL BANK HAS ROUGHLY $200 MLN IN U.S. DOLLAR RESERVES IN VAULTS - SOURCES
- SYRIA'S GOLD RESERVES WORTH $2.2 BLN AT CURRENT MARKET PRICES - REUTERS CALCULATIONS
Assad was corrupt no question, his cronies monopolized all aspect of Syrian economy, but when you look inside his homes in Syria, they looked normal for a family that was in power for 5 decades (not super lavished), and gold reserves untouched according to the below. https://t.co/qOIPGEDjto
— Bassem (@BBassem7) December 16, 2024
Bassel Hamawi, head of the Damascus Chambers of Commerce, said that "The most important point is that the amounts in the central bank are still as they were, there is no infringement on the central bank and the money in the central bank has been handed over to the new government" - despite other smaller cash stores at the bank having been stolen.
