Bashar Al-Assad – the former Syrian president – was granted political asylum in Russia after he was deposed 10 months ago
The former Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad is reported to have been the subject of an assassination attempt in Russia, where he was granted political asylum after he was deposed 10 months ago.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed citing a “private source” that Assad was released from hospital on the outskirts of Moscow on Monday. The source claimed that Assad “had been poisoned” and that the motive behind the assassination operation was “to embarrass the Russian government and accuse it of being complicit” in his death.
Only his brother Maher Assad was allowed to visit him in hospital amid a major security operation, it was claimed. The report said Assad’s condition was now “stable”. The Russian government has not to date commented on the claims.
The new authorities in Syria have demanded Assad’s extradition which Russia has until now refused. Putin personally granted asylum to Assad along with members of his families and regime associates. Assad, 60, has not been seen in public since arriving in Russia and is assumed to be kept under close guard by Russian secret services.
There is so far no independent evidence of Assad’s poisoning. An earlier report after Assad had been in Russia less than one month said that he “complained to his security about feeling unwell and having trouble breathing”. However, this account was not confirmed.