Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has confirmed that removed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was given asylum in Russia as he fled a lightning advance by opposition forces, saying the decision was made personally by President Vladimir Putin.
“Of course, such decisions cannot be made without the head of state. It is his [Putin’s] decision,” Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Monday. However, he declined to comment on al-Assad’s specific whereabouts and said Putin was not planning to meet with him.
“The Russian authorities have granted political asylum,” said Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova, reporting from Moscow. “We see reports on our end that Russia has not abandoned the resigned Syrian president in such difficult circumstances. Al-Assad was allegedly evacuated by a Russian plane from the Russian airbase in Latakia.”
Shapovalova said it remained to be seen how the decision to grant the former leader asylum would affect Russia and its assets in Syria.
“The most important question is the fate of Russian military bases,” namely a naval base in Tartous and an airbase in Hmeimim, Latakia, Shapovalova said.
The Kremlin said it was premature to say what the future would hold for Russia’s military bases in Syria. “This is all a subject for discussion with those who will be in power in Syria,” Peskov said.
The Tartous facility is Russia’s only Mediterranean repair and replenishment hub, and Moscow has used Syria as a staging post to fly its military contractors in and out of countries in Africa.
Credit: aljazeera.com
