Assad flees to Moscow as victorious rebel leader al-Golani enters Damascus

Ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow on Sunday, Russian state media confirmed, hours after a stunning rebel advance took over the capital of Damascus and ended the Assad family’s five decades of iron rule. Victorious rebel leader Abu Muhammad al-Golani greeted crowds in the freshly liberated capital city.

A Kremlin source told Russian news agencies on Sunday that Assad was in Moscow with his family after Russia granted them asylum on humanitarian grounds and a deal was made to ensure the safety of Russian military bases.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said earlier that Assad had left Syria and given orders for a peaceful transfer of power, ending nearly six decades of his family’s iron-fisted rule.The privately-owned Interfax news agency cited an unnamed Kremlin source as saying Russia favored a political solution under the auspices of the United Nations to the crisis in Syria, where Moscow supported Assad during the long civil war. (Read More)