Assad has left Damascus, says Russia, as Syrian army declares end of his rule

Published

1 month ago

December 8, 2024

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The Syrian government has fallen after a lightning offensive by anti-regime forces across the country – ending President Bashar al Assad’s 24-year rule.

Mr Assad has left office and the country after giving orders for there to be a peaceful transfer of power, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Russia was not involved in the talks surrounding his departure, the ministry said, but has been in touch with opposition groups – and urged all sides to refrain from violence.

The leader’s whereabouts now – and those of his wife Asma and their two children – remain unknown.

Footage circulating on social media as the news emerged showed families ransacking presidential palaces in Damascus, with some taking selfies in the grand settings.

Read more: Latest updates from Syria

Tehran, another of Mr Assad’s allies, said it would continue to closely monitor developments in Syria and the region.

The fate of the country lies in the hands of the Syrian people and should be pursued without foreign imposition or destructive intervention, Iran’s foreign ministry said.

Syrian rebels, made up of various opposition groups, said they were working to transition power to a new governing body with full executive powers.

“The great Syrian revolution has moved from the stage of struggle to overthrow the Assad regime to the struggle to build a Syria together that befits the sacrifices of its people,” the coalition said in a statement, describing events as a new birth for “great Syria”.

Later, in a post on the social media platform X, it added it aimed to build strategic partnerships within the region and the world.

Syria’s prime minister, who remains in the country, said he was ready to co-operate and offered a peaceful transition.

“I am here in my home,” Mohammed Ghazi al Jalali said. “I have not left it and do not intend to leave, except in a peaceful manner that ensures the continued functioning of public institutions and state facilities, promoting security and reassurance for our fellow citizens.”

Thousands celebrating in the streets

Thousands of Syrians, in cars and on foot, gathered in a main square in the capital Damascus chanting for freedom.

Saturday’s advances on the capital marked the first time the rebels have reached the outskirts of the city since 2018, when government forces recaptured the area after a years-long siege.

In the key city of Homs – which rebel fighters seized after just a day of fighting – thousands more filled the streets after the army withdrew, dancing and chanting “Assad is gone, Homs is free”, and “Long live Syria and down with Bashar al Assad”.

The rebels have also claimed Deir el Zor in the east, and Suweida, Quneitra and Deraa in the south.

Mr Assad and his forces had faced a battle on three fronts – Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) from the north, the Southern Front, and a Kurdish group in the east.

HTS leader Abu Mohammed al Jolani, who led the insurgency, declared “the future is ours” in a statement read out on Syrian state TV.

He said there was “no room for turning back” and his group was “determined” to continue on the path it started in 2011.

Footage circulating on social media showed families ransacking presidential palaces in Damascus and taking selfies in the grand settings.

Soldiers were reported to have deserted their posts and changed into civilian clothes as the rebels closed in.

Mohammed Amer al Oulabi, 44, was one of the many residents celebrating on the streets.

“From Idlib to Damascus, it only took them (the opposition forces) a few days, thank God. May God bless them, the heroic lions who made us proud,” he said.

Rebels announced a curfew starting from 4pm (1pm UK time) on Sunday until 5am on Monday.

The country’s international airport in Damascus was abandoned and rebels said they had entered the notorious Saydnaya military prison north of the capital and freed inmates.

Iran’s embassy was also stormed by Syrian rebels, Iran’s English-language Press TV reported.

In a sign of perhaps what was to come – protesters on Saturday brought down a statue of the president’s late father in a main square in a suburb a few miles from the centre of the capital.

Mr Assad had relied on his main allies, Russia and Iran, to counter insurgencies during his decades in power.

But with Russia now busy with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Iran’s proxies Hezbollah and Hamas embroiled in a conflict with Israel, Syria’s army was left exposed.

The fall of Mr Assad’s regime marks a turning point for Syria after 13 years of civil conflict.

Towns and cities have been reduced to rubble, hundreds of thousands of people have died, and millions have been forced abroad as refugees.

It’s a new dawn – but there are dark clouds on the horizon

It’s over.

Fifty-four years of brutal Assad dynasty rule has come to an end. The streets of Damascus have erupted in celebration, President Assad has fled the country and the capital has fallen.

What comes next is of great concern. Syria is deeply divided, geographically and socially. This is a moment of huge peril.

Once the euphoria cools there will be deep hatred and anger towards former Assad loyalists after decades of murderous rule. Containing that will be difficult.

Who will govern Syria is unknown. Multiple rebel groups control different parts of the country and, we assume, they will all want their slice of power. That is a recipe for further civil war unless this can be managed in an orderly way.

Syria’s prime minister, Mohammed Ghazi al Jalali, has remained in Damascus and offered a peaceful transition. How he is treated will be a good indicator.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the main group that started this rebellion with the capture of Aleppo, was once affiliated with Al Qaeda. It has renounced those links but remain a proscribed terror organisation by the US and others.

Russia and Iran, Assad’s two main state sponsors, abandoned him when his fate seemed inevitable. It’s unlikely they will abandon Syria quite so quickly though. Moscow has key military bases on the Mediterranean coast which opens up a part of the world to them – giving these up would be a huge strategic blow.

To Iran, Syria was a centrepiece in its axis of resistance, the funnel through which weapons were channelled to Hezbollah and vital territory in its arc of influence. But Assad and Hezbollah have now both collapsed, and Iran’s network of Shia influence is in tatters.

It’s a new dawn for Syria, but there are dark clouds on the horizon.

Trump: Syria is ‘not our friend’

The White House said US President Joe Biden and his team were monitoring the “extraordinary events” in touch with regional partners.

Daniel Shapiro, from the US Department of Defense, said they would continue to maintain their presence in eastern Syria “solely to ensure the enduring defeat” of the Islamic State.

President-elect Donald Trump said the US should not get involved in the conflict.

“Syria is a mess,” he posted on his social media site Truth Social, adding the country is “not our friend”.

In a fresh post this morning, he added: “Assad is gone. He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer.

“Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, the other because of Israel and its fighting success.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the ousting of Mr Assad as a “historic day”.

On a visit to the area near the border with Syria, he said he had ordered Israeli forces to seize areas in the buffer zone, adding: “We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border”.

The UN’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, urged all Syrians to prioritise dialogue, unity, and respect for international humanitarian law and human rights as they seek to rebuild their society.

British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips she “welcomed” news of Assad’s regime falling, adding: “He wasn’t exactly good to the Syrian people.”

Ms Rayner said: “We want to see a political resolution so that we can get that stability for Syrians and make sure that they have their infrastructure so that they have a political government there that is working in the interest of the Syrian people.”

Asked for her message to UK citizens in Syria, Ms Rayner said the foreign secretary was “very clear” that they should leave.

“We’ve had a plan to ensure that people were evacuated ahead of what’s happened over the weekend and we continue to support our UK nationals,” she added.

World

Donald Trump refuses to rule out military force over Panama Canal and Greenland – as he warns NATO to spend more

Published

3 hours ago

January 8, 2025

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Donald Trump refuses to rule out military force over Panama Canal and Greenland - as he warns NATO to spend more

US president-elect Donald Trump has refused to rule out military or economic action to seize the Panama Canal and Greenland – as he said he believes NATO spending should be increased to 5% per member state.

Speaking at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Mr Trump made a series of sweeping claims on what his policies could look like when he takes office on 20 January.

He said he believes NATO spending should be increased to 5% per member state, while he also declared US control of Greenland and the Panama Canal as vital to American national security.

The 78-year-old Republican also spoke of relations with Canada, as well as addressing his position on the Middle East and the war in Ukraine.

Sky News takes a look at some of the key claims brought up during the conference.

NATO

Mr Trump claimed “nobody knows more about NATO than I do”, before adding: “If it weren’t for me, NATO wouldn’t exist right now.

“I raised from countries that weren’t paying their bills, over $680bn. I saved NATO, but NATO is taking advantage of us.”

The president-elect also said members of NATO should be contributing 5% of their GDPs (gross domestic product) to defence spending – the previous target has been 2%.

Greenland and Panama Canal

Asked if he can reassure the world he won’t resort to military action or economic coercion in trying to get control of the areas, he said: “No, I can’t assure you on either of those two.”

“But, I can say this, we need them for economic security.”

He didn’t add any further detail around Greenland – which he has recently suggested the US should own or control – but he said the Panama Canal “was built for our military”.

He said the canal was “vital” to the country and China was “operating” it.

Mr Trump criticised the late Jimmy Carter for his role in signing over the Panama Canal to Panama during his presidency, saying it’s “a disgrace what took place” and “Jimmy Carter gave it to them for one dollar.”

Canada

A day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he was stepping down, Mr Trump said he believed the US’ northern neighbour should become the 51st US state.

He mocked Mr Trudeau by calling him “governor” rather than prime minister.

He argued the US and Canada combined would amount to an “economic force” that would “really be something”.

“There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States,” Mr Trudeau responded.

Israel-Hamas war

Israel has been waging a 15-month war on the militant group ruling Gaza, Hamas, since they launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October which saw 1,200 people massacred and about 250 taken hostage, many of whom remain in captivity.

Mr Trump said: “If those hostages aren’t back by the time I get into office, all hell will break out in the Middle East.”

Nearly 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza, according to Hamas-run health officials in the enclave.

Analysis: Trump’s warning risks becoming less threatening

Ukraine war

Referring to Russia’s ongoing full-scale war against its smaller neighbour, Mr Trump said a “big part of the problem” was Russian President Vladimir Putin had said for many years he did not want Ukraine involved with NATO.

“Somewhere along the line [outgoing President Joe] Biden said you can join NATO,” he said.

“Well, then Russia has NATO right on their doorstep.

“When I heard the way Biden was negotiating I said ‘you are going to end up in a war’ and it turned out to be a war.”

Asked if he would commit to keep supporting Ukraine during negotiations with Moscow, Mr Trump quipped: “Well, I wouldn’t tell you if that were the case.”

Offshore drilling

Mr Trump repeated one of his favourite phrases from the campaign trail, “drill, baby, drill”.

On Monday, outgoing President Biden moved to ban new offshore oil and gas developments along most US coastlines.

But Mr Trump, who has vowed to boost domestic energy production, said he will undo it.

“We’re going to be drilling a lot of other locations,” he said.

World

Donald Trump’s threats could be a make-or-break test for NATO

Published

6 hours ago

January 7, 2025

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Donald Trump's threats could be a make-or-break test for NATO

The public articulation by Donald Trump of a new desired target for NATO allies to spend 5% of national income on defence will surely plunge governments across Europe into crisis mode – not least here in the UK.

Britain presents itself to the world and in particular to the United States as the biggest defence spender in Europe and NATO’s most powerful European military.

Yet Sir Keir Starmer has not even managed to set out a timeline for what he describes as a “path to 2.5%” of GDP being invested in his armed forces, up from just over 2% today.

If the prime minister merely sticks to this pledge, he risks being viewed by the new administration as woefully unambitious and not credible on defence.

Then there is the extraordinary threat by Mr Trump to seize Greenland by force if necessary, even though this valuable piece of territory belongs to a fellow NATO ally in the form of Denmark.

The move – were it to happen – would demonstrate the limitations of the alliance’s Article 5 founding principle.

It is supposed to guarantee that all allies would come to the defence of any member state which is under armed attack.

But what about if the aggressor is also meant to be an ally?

The president-elect also appeared to dash any hope of Ukraine being offered membership to the alliance anytime soon – a core request of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Instead, Mr Trump sounded sympathetic to Vladimir Putin’s absolute opposition to such a move.

He said he would meet the Russian president after taking office – reiterating a promise to end the war in Ukraine, though again without spelling out how.

The outbursts came in a lengthy press conference on Tuesday that marked the starting shot in what could be a make-or-break test for NATO – an alliance of transatlantic friends that rose from the ashes of the Second World War.

European members of NATO, as well as Canada, already took a battering the last time Mr Trump was in the White House – and rightly so.

The US had for far too long largely bankrolled the security of Europe, while the majority of its allies – including the UK – reaped the so-called “peace dividend” that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, swapping expenditure on defence for peacetime priorities such as economic growth, healthcare and education.

Mr Trump made clear during his first term his displeasure about what he saw as Washington being ripped off and vowed to make Europe take its fair share of the burden.

He even warned member states that the US would not come to the aid of an ally that was not hitting at the very least a minimum NATO spending targeting of 2% of GDP – something they had previously pledged to do by 2024 but were slow to deliver on.

Such language electrified allies in a way that even Putin’s initial 2014 invasion of Ukraine, with the annexation of Crimea and attacks in the east of the country, had not.

Yet, with the threat from Russia growing in the wake of its full-scale war in Ukraine in 2022, coupled with conflict in the Middle East and the challenge posed by China, it has become clear that this heightened level of expenditure by allies was still far short of what is required to rebuild militaries across Europe that have been hollowed out over decades.

Mark Rutte, the new secretary general of NATO, set the stage for what is expected to be another push to ramp up investment when he delivered a landmark speech last month in which he called on allies to return to a “war mindset” and “turbocharge” defence spending.

He said this was to counter growing threats, but observers said it was also a pre-emptive response to the anticipated demands of the next Trump administration.

Either way, it poses a huge challenge for all allies, in particular for Sir Keir Starmer.

He and Rachel Reeves face a choice: change course when it comes to their top priorities of economic growth, hospital waiting lists and new housing and instead invest more in defence or defy what will doubtless be growing demands from the United States to spend billions of pounds more on the UK armed forces – and maybe even leave the country in a position whereby the US would not come to its aid if attacked.

World

Rapid Support Forces (RSF) accused by US of committing genocide in Sudan war

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6 hours ago

January 7, 2025

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Rapid Support Forces (RSF) accused by US of committing genocide in Sudan war

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its allied militias are committing genocide in Sudan while waging war against the army for control of the country, Joe Biden’s US administration has determined – two weeks before leaving office.

In a statement sharing the designation on Tuesday, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said the RSF and its aligned militias had “systematically murdered men and boys – even infants – on an ethnic basis” and “deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of brutal sexual violence”.

He announced that Washington would impose sanctions on RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo and seven RSF-owned companies located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The UAE is credibly accused of backing and arming the RSF – something it has strenuously denied.

When reached for comment by Reuters, the RSF rejected these measures and said: “America previously punished the great African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela, which was wrong.

“Today, it is rewarding those who started the war by punishing (RSF leader) general Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, which is also wrong.”

The RSF has been fighting Sudan’s army for territorial control of the country since war erupted in the capital, Khartoum, in April 2023.

The ensuing devastation has been described as the worst humanitarian crisis ever recorded – with over 11 million people forced out of their homes, tens of thousands dead, and 30 million in need of humanitarian assistance.

In December 2023, Mr Blinken announced that both warring parties had committed war crimes, but that the RSF in particular had committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

He mentioned this precedent in this latest announcement, adding: “Today’s action is part of our continued efforts to promote accountability for all warring parties whose actions fuel this conflict.

“The United States does not support either side of this war, and these actions against Hemedti and the RSF do not signify support or favour for the SAF (Sudanese Armed Forces).

“Both belligerents bear responsibility for the violence and suffering in Sudan and lack the legitimacy to govern a future peaceful Sudan.”