A lightning rebel attack earlier this month rattled Syria’s ruling clan.
President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia on December 8, leaving behind many of his allies, some of whom sought refuge in neighboring countries.
The ousted president, who fled to Moscow via the Russian military airfield at Hmeimim on the Syrian coast, had only a handful of confidants with him, according to two sources.
These included his close aide, Secretary-General for Presidential Affairs Mansour Azzam, as well as his economic adviser Yasser Ibrahim, who oversees the financial empire of Assad and his wife Asma.
“He left with his secretary and treasurer,” joked an insider who requested anonymity.
Bashar’s brother, Maher al-Assad, commander of the 4th Division responsible for the defense of Damascus, was not aware of his brother’s plans.
According to a Syrian military source, leaving his men stranded, Maher took a different route and fled to Iraq by helicopter before flying to Russia.
An Iraqi security source told AFP that Maher arrived in Iraq by plane on December 7 and stayed there for five days.
Without disclosing their final destination, Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said that Maher’s wife, Manal al-Jadaan, and their son briefly entered Lebanon before departing via Beirut airport.
Another Assad government stalwart, former head of Syria’s security apparatus Ali Mamlouk, fled to Russia via Iraq, a Syrian military source said.
According to a Lebanese security source, his son passed through Lebanon before leaving for another destination.
‘Desired’
The Iraqi Interior Ministry on Monday denied the presence of Maher al-Assad or the Mamluks in Iraq.
Both are wanted persons.
Maher – and Bashar al-Assad – are wanted by France for alleged involvement in war crimes over chemical attacks in Syria in August 2013.
French courts have already sentenced Mamlouk and Jamil Hassan, the former head of Syrian air force intelligence, to life in prison in absentia for involvement in crimes against humanity and war crimes.
On Friday, Lebanese authorities received an Interpol alert issuing a US request to arrest Hassan and hand him over to US authorities upon entering the country.
The United States has accused Hassan of “war crimes”, including overseeing barrel bomb attacks on Syrians that killed thousands of civilians.
A Lebanese judicial source told AFP they had no confirmation of Hassan’s presence in Lebanon, but assured that if found he would be detained.
escaped at the last minute
Other prominent figures also fled in a hurry.
Bouthaina Shaban, a former translator for Hafez al-Assad – Bashar’s father who established the brutal government system his son inherited – fled Lebanon on the night of 7–8 December.
Shaaban, a longtime political adviser to Bashar al-Assad, traveled to Abu Dhabi, according to a friend in Beirut.
Kifah Mujahid, the head of the Ba’ath Brigade – the military wing of Syria’s former ruling party – fled to Lebanon by boat, a party source told AFP.
Other officials have taken refuge in their hometowns in Alawite areas, some of them told AFP. Assad belonged to Syria’s Alawite minority community.
All attempts to escape were not successful.
Ihab Makhlouf, a cousin of Bashar al-Assad and a prominent businessman, was killed while trying to flee Damascus on 7 December.
His twin brother, Iyad, was wounded in the same incident, a former government military official said.
His older brother, Rami Makhlouf, once Syria’s richest man and a symbol of regime corruption, managed to survive. Rami, who fell out of favor with the Assad regime years ago, is believed to be in the United Arab Emirates.
Several other people close to the Assad government crossed into Lebanon, according to a security source and a business source. These included Ghassan Belal, the head of Maher’s office, and businessmen Mohammed Hamsho, Khaled Qaddour, Samir Debs and Samir Hassan.
A former Lebanese minister with close ties to Syria said that several senior Syrian military officers were provided safe passage to Hmeimim airbase by the Russians.
He was rewarded, he said, for instructing his troops not to resist the rebel attack to avoid further bloodshed.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
