Assad’s regime ends in Syria

Monitoring Desk DAMASCUS: Syria’s army command notified officers on Sunday that Assad’s regime had ended. The Russian Foreign Ministry on Sunday confirmed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had left office and departed the country after being ousted by Syrian rebels, who ended the 50-year Assad dynasty in a lightning offensive that has raised fears of a new wave of instability in the Middle East. In a statement, the ministry said that Assad had ordered a peaceful handover but did not say where he was now. The ministry denied Russia’s role in talks about his departure and added that Russian military bases in Syria were at a state of high alert, although there was no serious threat to them at the current time. Dozens of Syrians entered Assad’s luxurious Damascus home after it was looted on Sunday, following the fall of the capital to rebel forces. Women, children and men could be seen inspecting the six-storey home and its large garden, with the entrance to the residence burnt down and the rooms completely empty, save some furniture and a portrait of Assad thrown on the floor. Assad, who had crushed all forms of dissent, flew out of Damascus for an unknown destination earlier on Sunday, as rebels said they had entered the capital with no sign of army deployments. “We celebrate with the Syrian people the news of freeing our prisoners and releasing their chains and announcing the end of the era of injustice in Sednaya prison,” the rebels said, referring to a large military prison on the outskirts of Damascus where the Syrian government detained thousands. Thousands in cars and on foot congregated at a main square in Damascus waving and chanting “Freedom” from a half-century of Assad family rule, witnesses said. The dramatic collapse also marks a seismic moment for the Middle East, dealing a massive blow to Russia and Iran, which have lost a key ally at the heart of the region and creating more uncertainty as the Gaza offensive rages. The pace of events has stunned Arab capitals and raised fears of a new wave of regional instability. It marks a turning point for Syria, shattered by more than 13 years of war which has turned cities to rubble, killed hundreds of thousands of people, and forced millions abroad as refugees. Stabilising western areas of Syria captured in the rebels’ advance will be key. Western governments, which have shunned the Assad-led state for years, must decide how to deal with a new administration in which a globally designated terrorist group — Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) — looks set to have influence. HTS, which spearheaded the rebel advances across western Syria, was formerly an al Qaeda affiliate known as the Nusra Front until its leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani, severed ties with the global jihadist movement in 2016. “The real question is how orderly will this transition be, and it seems quite clear that Golani is very eager for it to be an orderly one,” said Joshua Landis, a Syria expert and Director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Golani will not want a repeat of the chaos that swept Iraq after US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. “They are going to have to rebuild … they will need Europe and the US to lift sanctions,” Landis said. US President Joe Biden and his team were monitoring the “extraordinary events in Syria” and were in touch with regional partners, the White House said. The Russian Foreign Ministry said Assad left office and departed the country after ordering a peaceful handover of power. Syria’s civil war, which erupted in 2011 as an uprising against Assad’s rule, dragged in big outside powers, created space for militants to plot attacks around the world and sent millions of refugees into neighbouring states.