SYRIAN despot Bashar al-Assad traded his country’s military secrets with Israel in exchange for safe passage out of the country, it has been claimed.
The murderous tyrant allegedly handed over coordinates for weapons depots which Israel is now using to drop bombs on Syrian targets in a cowardly last act.
Abdulkadir Selvi, a well-established commentator from Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, said a reliable source told him Assad handed over a list with “the location of weapons depots, missile systems, and warplanes as a guarantee that Israel would not target him during his flight.”
Israel started dropping airstrikes on Syrian military strongholds soon after the fall of Assad’s government – leading Selvi to conclude reports of the trade are likely true.
Selvi also claims there are other details about Assad’s scramble to safety which “particularly concern Israel’s role,” but he hasn’t elaborated on the details.
Rebel forces in Syria launched their coup campaign in late November, and less than a fortnight later stormed capital Damascus where they claimed victory.
Assad fled in secret on a chopper to Russia where fellow despot and pal Vladimir Putin offered him refuge.
Since then the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have carried out countless strikes on what they say are weapons depots.
Israel has said they are preemptive strikes intended to stop the weapons falling “into the hands of extremists”.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said just days ago that Israel targeted a munitions base in Tartus, northwestern Syria.
Footage captured the astounding blast, sparking a mushroom-cloud of fire and smoke amid deafening noise.
The SOHR revealed how the ground-shaking blast measured the same as a 3.0-magnitude earthquake on nearby seismic sensors.
Dozens of other Israeli attacks were seen across Syria on Sunday with warplanes reportedly launching pinpoint strikes on weapons depots.
The strikes have been described as the heaviest in over a decade – focused in dozens of locations all over the country.
However Syria’s new de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, signalled a retreat from confrontation with Israel following the attacks.
He declared: “The Israelis have clearly crossed the disengagement line in Syria, which threatens a new unjustified escalation in the region.
“The general exhaustion in Syria after years of war and conflict does not allow us to enter new conflicts,” he added.
Assad spoke out for the first time following his cowardly escape from Syria on Monday.
The ousted tyrant released a statement from Moscow, insisting he had to flee after the Russian base he was hiding in was bombed.
Assad dished out fighting talk from the safety of his bolthole in the Russian capital, saying the only course of action had been to stay and fight – before he fled.
The statement was published on the Syrian presidency’s Telegram channel and was Assad’s first public comment since he was toppled.
The despot said he stayed in the capital until the early hours of Sunday 8 December before “terrorist forces infiltrated Damascus”.
He then claimed he moved to the Russian air base in Latakia, named Khmeimim, to oversee his army fighting the rebels.
But just hours later the base itself came under attack from drone strikes, he alleged.
Assad said: “Upon arrival at the Khmeimim airbase that morning, it became clear that our forces had completely withdrawn from all battle lines and that the last army positions had fallen.”
He claimed those inside could not safely leave the base and remain in Syria, so Russia called for it to be evacuated.
The dictator said: “At no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge, nor was such a proposal made by an individual party.
“The only course of action was to continue fighting against the terrorist onslaught.”
Earlier reports revealed how Assad told his staff he was heading home for the day before escaping to the airport to be smuggled out of Syria.
The tyrant didn’t even tell some of his closest family with one of his cousins shot dead by rebels in an ambush trying to flee Damascus.
Assad told almost no one amongst his closest staff or advisers that he was planning to flee the country, Reuters reports.
Then Russian spies extracted the dictator after Putin personally approved the last-minute evacuation.
He was flown out of Syria on a plane which had its transponder switched off to avoid any kind of tracking, Bloomberg reported.
By Patrick Harrington, Foreign News Reporter
ISRAEL has been launching airstrikes at targets across Syria since Sunday December 8.
The strikes are concentrated in the west and south, near the capital Damascus.
Most of the strikes are to destroy weapons and ammunition that belonged to President Assad’s forces.
Israel says it must act quickly to destroy the military equipment to stop it “falling into the hands of extremists”.
Many of the strike sites have been air bases, but Israel also targeted a naval base and a scientific research centre linked with chemical weapons.
There are legitimate fears that the coup in Syria could lead to a resurgence in ISIS forces, according to a UK terrorism lawmaker.
Jonathan Hall KC warned Syrian jails are holding “some of the most dangerous Islamic State fighters” who, if released, “would no doubt form a kernel” for a new wave of ISIS.
