US President Joe Biden on Sunday mentioned deposed Syrian chief Bashar al-Assad ought to be “held accountable” however referred to as the nation’s political upheaval a “historic alternative” for Syrians to rebuild their nation.
Within the first full US response to Assad’s overthrow by an Islamist-led coalition of insurgent factions, Biden additionally warned that Washington will “stay vigilant” in opposition to the emergence of terrorist teams, saying that US forces had simply carried out recent strikes in opposition to militants from the Islamic State group.
“The autumn of the regime is a basic act of justice,” Biden mentioned, talking from the White Home. “It is a second of historic alternative for the long-suffering individuals of Syria.”
Requested by reporters what ought to occur to the deposed president, who reportedly has fled to Moscow, Biden mentioned that “Assad ought to be held accountable.”
Biden — set to step down in January and make manner for Republican Donald Trump’s return to energy — mentioned Washington will help Syrians in rebuilding.
“We’ll interact with all Syrian teams, together with inside the course of led by the United Nations, to determine a transition away from the Assad regime towards unbiased, sovereign” Syria “with a brand new structure,” he mentioned.
Nonetheless, Biden cautioned that hardline Islamist teams inside the victorious insurgent alliance might be beneath scrutiny.
“A number of the insurgent teams that took down Assad have their very own grim file of terrorism and human proper abuses,” Biden mentioned.
The US had “taken word” of latest statements by rebels suggesting they’d since moderated, he mentioned, however cautioned: “We’ll assess not simply their phrases, however their actions.”
Biden mentioned Washington is “clear eyed” that the Islamic State extremist group, typically generally known as ISIS, “will attempt to make the most of any vacuum to reestablish” itself in Syria.
“We won’t let that occur,” he mentioned, including that on Sunday alone, US forces had carried out strikes in opposition to ISIS inside Syria.
The US army mentioned the strikes had been carried out by warplanes in opposition to Islamic State operatives and camps.
Strikes had been carried out in opposition to “over 75 targets utilizing a number of US Air Pressure property, together with B-52s, F-15s, and A-10s,” the US Central Command mentioned on social media.
Earlier, Biden met along with his nationwide safety group on the White Home to debate the disaster.
– Lacking US journalist –
Assad’s reported departure comes lower than two weeks after the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group challenged greater than 5 a long time of Assad household rule with a lightning insurgent offensive that broke long-frozen frontlines in Syria’s civil battle.
They introduced Sunday they’d taken the capital Damascus and that Assad had fled, prompting celebrations nationwide and a ransacking of Assad’s luxurious residence.
A Kremlin supply instructed Russian information businesses that the deposed chief was now in Moscow, alongside along with his household.
The US army has round 900 troops in Syria and a pair of,500 in Iraq as a part of the worldwide coalition established in 2014 to assist fight the Islamic State jihadist group.
It has repeatedly struck targets within the nation together with these linked to Iranian-backed militias. Tehran was a serious backer of Assad’s authorities.
Biden additionally confirmed US authorities consider the American journalist Austin Tice, who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012, nonetheless lives.
“We consider he is alive,” Biden mentioned, however the US has but “to establish the place he’s.”
