Ousted Syrian leader Assad says he had planned to keep fighting but Russians evacuated him

NEW DELHI: Ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad on Monday said that he did not want to leave Syria and rather wanted to continue fighting the rebels.

"I did not leave the country as part of a plan as it was reported earlier," Assad said in a statement on his Facebook page

He, in his first statement after the rebels toppled his government, said the Russians evacuated him after their military installation came under attack.

Also read: Misled army with promises of Russian aid; Assad’s final hours in Syria before rebel takeover

The expelled leader said that he fled from Damascus on December 8 morning, after the rebels seized Damascus. He was initially relocated to the Russian military facility in Latakia province, where he intended to continue the resistance alongside his Russian allies.

However, the Russian authorities decided to move him to Russia on the night of December 8 after their base faced drone attacks.

“At no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge nor was such proposal made by any individual or party. The only course of action was to continue fighting against the terrorist onslaught,” said Assad.

Earlier, news agency AFP citing multiple former officials reported that the former Syrian president had already fled the country before rebel forces captured Damascus and overthrew his administration.

The officials revealed that the previous evening, Assad had instructed his close adviser to draft a speech—which he never delivered—before departing from Damascus airport to Russia's Hmeimim air base, and later leaving the country.

While Assad consistently called his opponents as "terrorists", Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the organisation responsible for his removal, has also been designated as a terrorist group by the United States and various Western governments.

HTS, which originated from a former Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, separated from the jihadist organisation in 2016 and has attempted to present a more moderate image.

Recently, both the US and British governments have initiated dialogue with the group.