Hours earlier than insurgent forces seized Damascus and toppled his authorities on Sunday, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was already in a foreign country, telling hardly anybody, 5 former officers advised AFP.
The evening earlier than, Assad had even requested his shut adviser Buthaina Shaaban to arrange a speech — which the ousted chief by no means gave — earlier than flying from Damascus airport to Russia’s Hmeimim air base in Syria, and from there in a foreign country.
Assad left even “with out telling… his shut confidants prematurely”, a former aide advised AFP, requesting anonymity for safety causes.
“From the Russian base, a airplane took him to Moscow.”
“His brother Maher,” who commanded the Syrian military’s feared Fourth Brigade, “heard about it by likelihood whereas he was along with his troopers defending Damascus. He determined to take a helicopter and go away, apparently to Baghdad,” added the previous aide.
Different high officers in Assad’s authorities and sources advised AFP what occurred within the closing hours of the iron-fisted chief’s 24-year rule.
All spoke on situation of anonymity due to safety issues.
– Leaderless –
When Islamist-led insurgent forces launched their offensive in Syria’s north on November 27, Assad was in Moscow, the place his spouse Asma has been handled for most cancers.
Two days later, when their son Hafez was defending his doctoral thesis at a Moscow college, the entire household had been there, however not Bashar, in response to a presidential palace official.
On November 30, when Assad returned from Moscow, Syria’s second metropolis of Aleppo was not below his authorities’s management.
The next week, the rebels took Hama and Homs in fast succession, earlier than finally reaching the capital.
One other palace official mentioned he didn’t see Assad the day earlier than Damascus fell final Sunday.
“On Saturday Assad did not meet with us. We knew he was there, however didn’t have a gathering with him,” mentioned the highest official.
“We had been on the palace, there was no clarification, and it triggered nice confusion on the senior ranges and on the bottom,” he mentioned.
“Really, we had not seen him because the fall of Aleppo, which was very unusual.”
Throughout that fateful week, Assad referred to as a gathering of the heads of Syria’s intelligence companies to reassure them.
However the longtime chief didn’t present up, and “Aleppo’s fall shocked us”, mentioned the identical high palace official.
Hama was subsequent to fall into insurgent palms.
“On Thursday, I spoke at 11:30 am with troops in Hama who assured me town was below lockdown and never even a mouse might make it in,” a military colonel advised AFP.
“Two hours later they acquired the order to not battle, and to redeploy in Homs to the south,” added the officer of the following strategic metropolis sought by the rebels on their solution to Damascus.
“The troopers had been helpless, altering garments, throwing away their weapons and making an attempt to go residence. Who gave the order? We do not know.”
The governor of Homs advised a journalist that he had requested the military to withstand. However no authorities forces defended town.
– Delay –
On Saturday morning, somebody within the halls of energy in Damascus introduced up the concept of Assad making a speech.
“We began to arrange the tools. The whole lot was prepared,” mentioned the primary palace official.
“In a while we had been shocked to be taught that the speech had been postponed, possibly to Sunday morning.”
Based on him, high officers and aides had been unaware that whereas this was taking place, the Syrian military had already begun destroying its archives by setting them on fireplace.
Nonetheless on Saturday, at round 9:00 pm (1800 GMT), “the president calls his political adviser Buthaina Shaaban to ask her to arrange a speech for him, and to current it to the political committee which is supposed to satisfy on Sunday morning”, mentioned a senior official near Assad.
“At 10:00 pm she calls him again, however he not picks up the cellphone.”
That night, Assad’s media director Kamel Sakr advised journalists: “The president goes to ship an announcement very quickly.”
However then Sakr, too, stopped answering his cellphone, as did inside minister Mohammed al-Rahmoun.
The palace official mentioned he stayed in his workplace till 2:30 am on Sunday. Inside lower than 4 hours, the rebels had been to announce that Assad was gone.
“We had been able to obtain an announcement or a message from Assad at any second,” mentioned the highest palace official.
“We might have by no means imagined such a situation. We did not even know whether or not the president was nonetheless on the palace.”
– ‘The whole lot was misplaced’ –
At round midnight, the palace official had been advised that Assad wanted a cameraman for Sunday morning.
“That reassured us that he was the truth is nonetheless there,” he mentioned.
However simply earlier than 2:00 am, an intelligence officer referred to as to say all authorities officers and forces had left their places of work and positions.
“I used to be shocked. It was simply the 2 of us within the workplace. The palace was nearly empty, and we had been completely confused,” mentioned the official.
At 2:30 am he left the palace.
Within the metropolis centre, “arriving at Umayyad Sq., there have been loads of troopers fleeing, on the lookout for transportation,” he mentioned.
“There have been 1000’s of them, coming from the safety compound, the defence ministry and different safety branches. We discovered that their superiors had ordered them to flee.”
The official mentioned it was a “scary” scene.
“Tens of 1000’s of vehicles leaving Damascus, and much more folks marching on the street on foot. It was that second I realised all the pieces was misplaced and that Damascus had fallen.”
