Alistair Buckle: Sky News Middle East correspondent on Bashar al Assad fleeing to Moscow

Bashar al Assad has reportedly fled to Moscow.

Russian state media is reporting that he and his family have been granted asylum after the rebels took the Capital of Damascus.

Sky News Middle East correspondent Alistair Buckle joins the show and says we need to be concerned about what comes next.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bashah Alisad has reportedly fled to Moscow. Now Russian state
media is reporting that he and his family have been
granted asylum over there, and this is, of course, after
he fled Syria once the rebels took the capital of Damascus.
Sky News Middle East correspondent Alister Bunkler is with US now, Hey,
Alistair Hi Heather and anyway, surprised that he's turned up
in Moscow.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
No, I think if you were betting where Asad might
flee to, then Moscow or Tehran would probably be at
the top of your list. There was some room that
he might have gone to the United Arab Emirates. I
think a private jet was tracked in going in that direction.
But no, I'm not surprised he's gone to Moscow. Russia

(00:42):
and Iran were two of Syria's biggest backers, and Russia
has a real strategic interest in Syria as well, and
so no, it doesn't surprise me that that is where
he's ended up.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
So look, I mean, there are a lot of people
who are going to be celebrating the end of his tenure.
But the thing is whatever comes next may be worse,
maybe just as bad. How strong is the tie through
to Isis with these.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
Rebels, I mean, that is the question. I mean in
terms of what comes next. Yeah, people are celebrating the
downfall of Assad. They're celebrating the demise of fifty four
years of an Assad dynasty that has ruled over Syria
with brutality. It's been a murderous regime. But you know,

(01:25):
we mustn't overlook the fact that a major part of
the group that has managed to overthrow him. And there's
multiple rebel groups, but the biggest of those is a
designated terrorist organization by the US, by the United Nations.
It had links with al Qaeda. And there are remnants

(01:46):
of Islamic State still in Syria and they've been kind
of kept sort of at bay over recent years. But
a power vacuum, which is what we have now, is
kind of the perfect environment for groups like Islamic State
to thrive in, to take advantage of. And that is

(02:07):
why that Yeah, I get on the one hand why
people in Syria are obviously celebrating this kind of new dawn,
but on the other hand, we do have to be
quite concerned about what comes next.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
Absolutely, Alistair, thanks for your expertise, mate. That's Alista buncle
Sky News Middle East correspondent.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
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