President Joe Biden said that Syria and the broader Middle East faced a “historic opportunity” for peace and the establishment of a new Syrian state with the fall of Bashar Al-Assad’s government on Sunday.
The US president spoke from the White House and called the moment a positive development while warning that it was important to ensure that an “independent” Syrian government that “served all Syrians”.
“After 13 years of civil war in Syria, more than half a century of brutal authoritarian rule by Bashar al-Assad and his father before him, rebel forces have forced Assad to resign his office, flee the country,” the president said in his address.
“At long last, the Assad regime has fallen,” said Biden on Sunday. “It’s a moment of historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria to build a better future for their proud country.”
He added that while it is not clear where Bashar Al-Assad and the dictator’s closest advisors were exactly at this hour, it appeared that they had fled to Moscow. Russian state media, according to Reuters, was making similar claims.
On a call with reporters after the president concluded his remarks, a senior US official added that the stockpile of chemical weapons known to be in the Assad regime’s possession before its downfall was being monitored closely.
“We do have good fidelity on this type of thing,” they said. “I’ll just want to just assure you that we’re doing everything we can to prudently ensure that those materials are either not available to anyone or are cared for.”
This is a breaking news story. More to follow…