Assad said to have fled Damascus

[Valin]

UPI:

7/19/12

 

(Snip)Arab media reported Assad and his family have fled by plane to his hometown near the seaport of Latakia. Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai said Assad fled to the village of Kardaha in the Alawite Mountains following the deaths of his three top security chiefs Wednesday. From there he is directing his regime's response, the paper said.

 

The London based Arab-language newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi said there are reports Assad survived an assassination attempt Tuesday evening and may be suffering from injuries to his legs and abdomen.

 

Israel Radio broadcast an unidentified rebel commander saying battles were ongoing at the entrance to Assad's fortified presidential palace in Damascus and Syrian air force helicopters were firing missiles at the fighters.

(Snip)

[Valin]

Hot Air: Middle East in flames

J.E. Dyer

9/19/12

 

The Assad regime may well be in its final days now, with unconfirmed reports that Bashar al-Assad was injured in the bombing that killed three of his top advisors on Wednesday, and that Asma Assad, the dictator’s wife, has fled to Russia.

 

As of midday Thursday, the Assad regime is attacking rebel strongholds; it has not collapsed yet. It is still very well armed, and can fight on for months if it remains unified and all it’s fighting is the rebels. But those latter factors may be changing irrevocably.

 

The central question at the operational level will be whether Russia (and perhaps China) can continue to arm the regime. But there is an equally important strategic question, and that is whether the remaining Assad loyalists can put together an alternative future that prevents an Islamist takeover. Assad’s image is in tatters, and he will in any case remain a target for transnational jihadists. His day is done. Syria’s only alternative to an Islamist takeover now is a new regime featuring Assad loyalists, perhaps in company with allies of convenience: anyone else, inside Syria or abroad, who is terrified of an Islamist takeover. (In the latter regard, I wouldn’t dismiss the possibility of some assistance from inside Iraq.)

 

(Snip)