Syria’s ex-media chief reveals al-Assad’s escape details, final plea to Putin

Syria’s former media chief, Kamel Saqr, has revealed new information about ousted president Bashar al-Assad’s final hours before his escape to Russia as well as his last meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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In a Mazeej Studios podcast produced by Al Arabiya, Saqr described the route which he believes al-Assad took to escape as opposition forces made gains on the ground and were approaching the capital Damascus.

“I imagine it was from Damascus Airport via a private plane, taking the southern bypass road and then the airport road to reach the airport,” Saqr detailed. The first route was Damascus International Airport to the Russian-operated Hmeimim Airbase.

He believes al-Assad waited at the base “for several hours” until his flight to Moscow – second part of the route – was secured.

“My information suggests that he stayed at the base for several hours until the plane was secured, prepared, and its takeoff and flight to Moscow were ensured,” Saqr said.

The Russians had allegedly secured the operation because the Russian military attaché met with al-Assad within the final two hours before his escape, according to the ex-media chief.

Saqr believes others accompanied the ousted president, including the minister of presidential affairs, the minister of defense and al-Assad’s chief of staff.

“Beyond that, I don’t know,” he added.

When asked whether al-Assad’s son was with him, Saqr said both his sons, Hafez and Karim, must have accompanied him as well.

“For sure Hafez and Karim [were with him],” he said. “Karim returned with us on the same plane we took from Moscow a week prior. As for Hafez, I don’t know when he arrived, perhaps he came two days later.”

Al-Assad’s final meeting with Putin

In late November, just over a week before opposition forces toppled the al-Assad regime, the ousted president was in Moscow where he also had a planned meeting with Putin.

Saqr said al-Assad told him that during his meeting with Putin, he requested Russia’s assistance in helping Iran transport equipment and support to bolster the regime’s defenses against the opposition.

“Bashar al-Assad’s request to Putin was for him to personally handle the secure aerial transportation necessary to deliver military aid to support or stop the advance of the Syrian opposition,” Saqr said.

Al-Assad allegedly told Saqr that Putin had “immediately contacted his chief of staff and requested that preparations be made for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to transport anything needed through the Hmeimim base.”

However, Iran later told the ousted president that they had not received any confirmation or “signals to proceed with moving Iranian aircraft to the Hmeimim base [or to] fly through Iraqi airspace to land at the base.”

Moscow was questioned following Iran’s response but “no answer came.”

When asked whether this was a “trick by Putin,” Saqr said, “there’s no other explanation.”

The former media chief went on to explain how there was a “sign” during al-Assad’s meeting with Putin which indicated that “something was off.”

“Usually during such meetings, a joint press statement is issued,” Saqr said. However, no statement followed this meeting, despite details being “leaked” and reports circulating on Russian Telegram channels.

Saqr said he had prepared a press statement and sent it to the Russian side while he waited for instructions on how to proceed.

“This was on Friday evening…we were asked to wait for an hour, then another hour,” Saqr detailed. The Russian side then said the matter would be decided the following morning.

“On Saturday morning, Bashar al-Assad informed me that the Russian president had sent someone to his residence at the Four Seasons Hotel in Moscow to inform him that [Putin] preferred not to announce the visit. This came from the Russian president,” Saqr said. “That was the end of the matter.”

Iran and Russia were al-Assad’s main allies during the Syrian conflict, which began in 2011 after al-Assad’s violent crackdown on peaceful protests.

Read more:

New report reveals details of Bashar al-Assad’s final days as Syria’s president

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