International desk, Dec 8 (EFE).- United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Sunday that the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after a long civil war was a “historic opportunity” for the country, adding that it was up to Syrians to determine their future.
“After 14 years of brutal war and the fall of the dictatorial regime, today the people of Syria can seize an historic opportunity to build a stable and peaceful future. The future of Syria is a matter for the Syrians to determine,” Guterres said in a statement.
United States President Joe Biden on Sunday called the overthrow a “fundamental act of justice” but warned that this was a “moment of risk and uncertainty” for the Middle East, particularly given the possibility of a resurgence of the Islamic State terrorist organization.
Biden spoke from the White House hours after a coalition of rebel groups led by the Organization for the Liberation of the Levant (Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham, HTS) captured Damascus following a swift 12-day offensive across the country.
The president attributed the collapse of the Assad regime to the weakness of its main backers: Russia, which is embroiled in the conflict in Ukraine, and Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, who have been locked in a conflict with Israel since the start of the war in Gaza.
Biden credited the debilitation of Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah to the actions of Washington and its allies in both Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as the economic sanctions imposed on the Assad government over the years.
“Our approach has shifted the balance of power in the Middle East,” he declared.
The president said the US was ready to engage in dialogue “with all Syrian groups” as part of a UN-led transition process, as outlined in Resolution 2254 of 2015.
A US official said Washington was in contact with all members of the rebel coalition, including HTS, which splintered from the al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front in 2016 and is designated a terrorist organization by both the US and the UN.
The White House has said it was evaluating that designation in light of realities on the ground and the United Nations special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen acknowledged on Sunday that the designation “creates challenges.”
Biden stressed that the immediate US priority was to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State, which took control of large swaths of Syria and Iraq in 2014. US forces launched a dozen airstrikes in central Syria on Sunday, hitting 75 targets linked to the terrorist group, the Pentagon said in a statement.
In addition, Biden said the 900 troops deployed in Syria as part of the international coalition against IS would remain in the region to prevent the jihadist group from taking advantage of the situation to reorganize.
Putin offers Assad a safe haven
Assad and his family arrived Sunday in Russia after he was offered “asylum on humanitarian grounds,” a Kremlin source told local news agencies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has long been a supporter of Assad, launching a military operation in 2015 that prevented him from being overthrown by the Islamic State. In the past two weeks, the Russian military has reported bombing rebel positions in Aleppo and Idlib.
But in recent days, Russia’s main concern were its military bases in Syria: the Khmeimim Air Base in Latakia and the naval base in the Mediterranean port of Tartus.
Both bases are strategic beachheads for Russian military operations in the Middle East and the Sahel countries in Africa. EFE
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