Syrian despot Bashar al Assad, his British wife and children have escaped to Russia after being ousted from power after nearly a quarter of a century, with bounties offered for his generals
The generals of fallen Syrian despot Bashar al Assad are being hunted for their part in “the torturing of the Syrian people”, with a bounty offered to help find them.
The ousted dictator has fled to Moscow along with his British wife and children after his family’s 50 years of iron rule was overthrown. Former Syrian First Lady, Asma al Assad, born in London, was granted asylum by Vladimir Putin “out of humanitarian considerations” along with their three children following the exit of the 59-year-old dictator, who has been Syria’s president since 2000.
Russian media confirmed Assad has been granted asylum “out of humanitarian considerations” after rebel forces seized control of Damascus. Russia is a staunch ally of Assad and has intervened in Syria’s 13-year civil war in an effort to keep him in power, as the Kremlin has two key military bases in Syria.
Syria’s interim leader Mohammed al-Bashir has announced he has taken charge of the country as temporary prime minister. This evening, the Guardian reported rebel commander Ahmed al-Sharaa saying: “We will release a list that includes the names of the most senior officials involved in the torturing of the Syrian people.”
It comes as a desperate hunt for Assad’s chemical weapons stash is underway. Israeli warplanes hammered deadly underground silos in Syria’s south but experts raised fears that hundreds of tonnes of chemicals remain. Israel also seized a buffer zone inside Syria after Syrian troops withdrew.
Assad is believed to have hidden the nerve agent Sarin, of which there are believed to be hidden stores and caches of precursor components for other killer chemicals. Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a chemical weapons expert who has spent much time in Syria, told the Mirror Assad’s chemical weapons must not be controlled by jihadists.
He said: “I hope we know where all the chemical weapons are but simply blowing them up is not ideal. I believe there is no way they have removed them all. The big worry is Assad’s nerve agents such as Sarin, the stuff that he used to kill 1,500 people in 2013 outside Damascus in a place called Ghouta. This has to be removed or destroyed urgently.”