آخر يوم لبشار وماهر الأسد في سوريا

0:00 In less than 24 hours, Bashar al-Assad disappeared. The

0:06 palaces became empty, the guards withdrew, and orders

0:11 stopped. Where was he in his last moments? How did he leave

0:15 without even his closest people knowing? Where did

0:19 his brother Maher disappear amidst the collapse? Everything

0:23 collapsed suddenly, but the exit was planned silently. What

0:29 really happened on the last day of the Assad family

0:32 in

0:34 Syria? In the early hours of Sunday,

0:39 December 8, 2024, Bashar al-Assad remained inside the

0:44 Republican Palace in Damascus. Despite the opposition forces approaching

0:47 the capital, he tried to show that he was

0:51 still in control. The night before, he

0:54 held an emergency meeting with about 30 senior

0:59 army and security leaders, reassuring them that Russian support was

1:03 coming and asking them to remain steadfast. In fact, he had

1:07 begun arrangements to leave the country in complete secrecy.

1:11 He told his office manager on Saturday evening that he would return

1:15 home, but he headed to the Russian Hmeimim base. He

1:19 also called his advisor, Buthaina Shaaban, and asked her to

1:23 come to his house to help him write a speech,

1:27 but she arrived and found no one. Nadim Houry,

1:31 Executive Director of the Arab Reform Initiative,

1:34 said that Assad did not even plan the last battle. He did not mobilize his

1:39 forces, leaving his supporters to face their fate alone.

1:44 Meanwhile, Damascus was collapsing, and communications

1:48 were cut off with close figures such as Asma al-Assad

1:52 and some of the guard commanders. Bashar al-Assad began moving from

1:56 Damascus towards the Syrian coast in light of the complete collapse of security

2:00 in the capital. There were many accounts of

2:03 how he moved to the Russian Hmeimim base

2:07 in Latakia. The first account was that he left Damascus in a

2:10 private Russian armored car accompanied by his son. The

2:15 car arrived at his residence and secretly transported him

2:19 to the Syrian coast under heavy guard. It is noteworthy

2:23 that Russian armored vehicles used to travel inside Syria

2:26 carrying the Russian flag, which made them immune to

2:30 targeting or suspicion, which made Assad

2:33 prefer this safe method to avoid attracting

2:37 attention or falling into an ambush. The

2:40 second account states that he left the presidential palace

2:44 to Damascus airport by car via the southern ring road

2:48 towards the airport amid tight security measures. The

2:52 entire road was secured to ensure his

2:56 exit, and the accounts conflicted. Regarding the party

2:59 that provided protection, some sources stated that the

3:03 Fourth Division supervised securing the

3:06 road and the convoy, while other sources indicated

3:10 that Russian forces also participated in the

3:14 protection. Neither account has received

3:18 official confirmation so far. He departed from Damascus airport on an

3:22 Iranian plane that was sent specifically to transport him

3:27 to Latakia. He was

3:28 accompanied on the trip by former Minister

3:31 Mansour Azzam and his two sons, in addition to the brigadier general

3:35 responsible for his personal security, Mohsen Mohammed, without the

3:39 presence of any additional political or military figures,

3:43 confirming the secrecy and

3:47 danger of the mission. Upon his arrival at the Hmeimim base,

3:51 he discovered that the Syrian army had effectively collapsed and that

3:54 Damascus was out of control. At that moment, the

3:59 base itself was being subjected to intense attacks by

4:03 drones, which increased tension within the

4:07 Russian leadership. At approximately the same time,

4:11 Maher al-Assad, Bashar's brother and commander of the Fourth Division, left

4:14 Damascus accompanied by members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard

4:18 via secret routes to northeastern

4:21 Syria. Later, he took a helicopter to

4:25 Iraq and from there to Russia, despite the

4:29 Iraqi government’s official denial. Maher was not informed in advance of his

4:34 escape plan and left without coordination, which led to a

4:37 leadership vacuum in his actions. As for Ihab and Iyad

4:41 Makhlouf, Assad’s cousins, he tried to escape

4:44 by car to Lebanon, but they were ambushed in which

4:49 Ihab was killed and Iyad was seriously injured. In the

4:53 last days before his escape, Assad desperately sought

4:57 external support. He visited Moscow on

5:01 November 28 after the lightning attack on Aleppo, but he did not receive a

5:06 promise of any military intervention. Nevertheless, he returned and told his

5:10 commanders that Russian support was coming, just to buy

5:14 time. On December 2, he met in Damascus with

5:18 Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. He

5:21 was exhausted and acknowledged the weakness of his army. Despite the

5:25 difficult situation, he did not request direct military intervention from

5:29 Tehran, fearing that Israel would use it as a

5:32 pretext to strike Iranian targets in Syria or

5:36 even inside Iran. According to three of his aides,

5:40 Assad first tried to seek asylum in the

5:43 United Arab Emirates, but the

5:46 Emirati authorities refused, fearing

5:49 international reactions, especially Because of the American and

5:52 European sanctions imposed on it, although Russia

5:56 refused to intervene militarily to save the regime, it

5:59 decided at the crucial moment not to let Bashar al-

6:03 Assad fall into the hands of the rebels.

6:06 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov led

6:10 secret diplomatic efforts in coordination with Turkey and Qatar to

6:13 secure a safe passage for Assad through the areas under the

6:18 control of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (

6:20 HTS). Despite the official denial from Ankara and

6:24 Doha of any contact with the group,

6:27 understandings were reached on the ground and facilitated the exit. At the

6:30 same time, Moscow coordinated with neighboring countries

6:34 to ensure that Russian military aircraft would not be intercepted

6:37 as they left

6:40 Syrian airspace and to prevent any attempt at targeting or interception.

6:44 These arrangements were taking place in absolute secrecy, while

6:48 Damascus had become almost devoid of decision-making and

6:52 control. On the evening of Sunday, December 8,

6:56 Assad’s military plane took off from the

7:00 Hmeimim base, heading to Moscow. This was after the

7:05 official announcement of the fall of the regime. His wife, Asma al-Assad,

7:10 and his children had preceded him to the Russian capital through

7:14 secret arrangements made during the previous days in

7:18 Damascus. The

7:19 rebels began entering Assad’s

7:22 presidential residence, and video clips appeared showing Food on the

7:26 stove and family photo albums remained in

7:30 place, a scene that suggests a sudden and unprepared escape.

7:36 In his last phone call on Saturday evening with

7:40 his Prime Minister, Mohammad Jalali, at

7:43 10:30 pm, Assad told him in response to his

7:47 warnings about the deteriorating situation, “We will see him tomorrow.”

7:51 Those were his last recorded words before he disappeared from

7:55 sight forever. On Sunday night,

8:00 Bashar al-Assad’s plane arrived in Moscow, and in an official statement,

8:04 Russia announced that it had granted him political asylum. In a later statement,

8:08 Assad denied that he had fled the country and said that he was

8:12 prepared to fight to the end, but reality said

8:16 otherwise.

8:18 In one night, a ruling system that had lasted

8:22 more than half a century collapsed. Bashar al-Assad left quietly through the

8:28 back door of history without being confronted, without

8:32 explaining, and without saying goodbye. As for his brother Maher, the

8:36 back roads swallowed him up, and the news carried him

8:41 between Baghdad and Moscow. Since December 8, 2024,

8:47 Syria is no longer what it was. The palaces held firm. The ceremonies were

8:51 interrupted, and the people woke up to a reality without Assad.

8:56 The story has ended, but the questions remain

9:00 open: Who knew, who helped, who stayed, and to what end?

9:06 Where is Syria heading after the departure of the family that

9:10 ruled it with fire and iron?

آخر يوم لبشار وماهر الأسد في سوريا

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