Ousted Syrian President Assad and family in Moscow granted asylum: report

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Ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and family have landed in Moscow and have been granted asylum, Russia state media reported today, hours after Islamist-led rebels took control of his country.


"Assad and members of his family have arrived in Moscow," a Kremlin source told the TASS and Ria Novosti news agencies. "Russia granted them asylum on humanitarian grounds," he added.


There was buzz on social media with flight trackers speculating the mysterious whereabouts of Assad for most part of Sunday.


A Syrian Air plane took off from Damascus airport around the time the capital was taken by rebels, according to data from the Flightradar website.


The aircraft initially flew towards Syria's coastal region, a stronghold of Assad's Alawite sect, but then made an abrupt U-turn and flew in the opposite direction for a few minutes before disappearing off the map.


The sudden change in course and disappearance of the plane from tracking could indicate it had been shot down, or that it had switched off its transponder.


With Assad and family in Russia now, it is clear the plane had switched off its transponder.


Assad's departure comes less than two weeks after the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group challenged more than five decades of the Assad family rule with a lightning offensive.


"After 50 years of oppression under Baath rule, and 13 years of crimes and tyranny and displacement... we announce today the end of this dark period and the start of a new era for Syria," the rebel factions said on Telegram.


The Islamist leader of HTS, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, visited the capital Damascus's landmark Umayyad Mosque, as crowds greeted him with smiles and embraces. HTS is rooted in the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda.


Proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Western governments, HTS has sought to soften its image in recent years.