Keir Starmer welcomes defeat of Syria’s ‘barbaric’ Assad regime as rebels take Damascus but PM warns country needs ‘peace and stability’ amid questions over rebels’ former Islamist links
The UK welcomes the fall of Bashar Assad’s ‘barbaric regime’ in Syria, the Prime Minister has said as he calls for the restoration of ‘peace and stability’.
Sir Keir Starmer called for all sides to protect civilians and ensure aid can reach the vulnerable as he responded to the overthrow of the Syrian regime.
Syrian rebels announced on state television this morning that they had ousted Assad, ending a 50-year family dynasty in a lightning offensive lasting little more than a week.
Thousands in cars and on foot congregated at a main square in Damascus waving and chanting ‘Freedom’ from a half century of Assad family rule.
The dramatic collapse also marks a seismic moment for the Middle East, dealing a massive blow to Russia and Iran, which have lost a key ally at the heart of the region and creating more uncertainty as the Gaza war rages.
But the pace of events has stunned Arab capitals and raised fears of a new wave of regional instability.
The Prime Minister said: ‘The developments in Syria in recent hours and days are unprecedented, and we are speaking to our partners in the region and monitoring the situation closely.
‘The Syrian people have suffered under Assad’s barbaric regime for too long and we welcome his departure.
Syrian rebels announced on state television this morning that they had ousted Assad, ending a 50-year family dynasty in a lightning offensive lasting little more than a week.
Thousands in cars and on foot congregated at a main square in Damascus waving and chanting ‘Freedom’ from a half century of Assad family rule.
‘Our focus is now on ensuring a political solution prevails, and peace and stability is restored.
‘We call on all sides to protect civilians and minorities, and ensure essential aid can reach the most vulnerable in the coming hours and days.’
Western governments, which have shunned the Assad-led state for years, must decide how to deal with a new administration in which a globally designated terrorist group – Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – looks set to have influence.
HTS, which spearheaded the rebel advances across western Syria, was formerly an al Qaeda affiliate known as the Nusra Front until its leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani, severed ties with the global jihadist movement in 2016.
Former MI6 chief Sir John Sawers told Sky it might be time to re-examine HTS’s terrorist designation.
‘When I was, chief of MI6 10-12 years ago, we looked at all these Syrian opposition groups and classified them into those that we could support and those who were beyond the pale and too close to Al-Qaeda. And Tahrir al-Sham was definitely in the latter category,’ he said.
‘But I think Abu Mohammed Al Julani, the leader, has made great efforts over the last 10 years to distance himself from those terrorist groups.
‘And certainly the actions we’ve seen of Tahrir al-Sham over the last two weeks have been those of a liberation movement, not of a terrorist organization. And so I think they could be.
‘We are asking the MI5 and the Joint Terrorism Assessment Center for a review of the situation about terrorism and whether it should remain on the prescribed entity list. It would be rather ridiculous, actually, if we’re unable to engage with the new leadership in Syria because of a proscription dating back 12 years.’
Shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel told Sky News: ‘We have a responsibility with our friends and allies and close partners in this region to look at how we can structure with Syria now a potential peace plan.
‘But taking into account the new realities, particularly of this group, HTS, which is a strong proscribed organisation, and there will be certain things that I’m sure our government back home will be doing, through our security and intelligence network.
‘And in terms of the people that I’m with right now, there are many security and intelligence operatives here who are having those conversations and discussions.’
Gleeful Syrians ransacked Bashar al-Assad’s presidential palace in Damascus today of Louis Vuitton items after rebel soldiers stormed the capital.
Scores of people can be seen in one video within the palace’s walls raiding cupboards of the president and his British-born glamorous wife Asma al-Assad’s expensive possessions.
Duvets and linen bed sheets are strewn on the floor while one person can be seen holding an orange Louis Vuitton box as they walk up a flight of stairs and pass another looter carrying a bulging bag stuffed full of items.
People posed for selfies in hallways while another snap showed a rebel sitting at a desk in an office where maps could be seen scattered on the table and floor.
Dozens of al-Assad’s luxury vehicles have also been seized after militants broke into his supercar garage filled with Mercedes, Ferraris, and Audis.
Others have reportedly looted Syria’s Central Bank with people seen carrying bags full of cash.
The Assad’s brutal 53-year dynasty rule over the country came to a lightning speed end with the fall of the capital.
Syrians have jubilantly celebrated in the streets while state television showed opposition fighters milling around al-Assad’s presidential palace.
Despot al-Assad reportedly fled on a plane this morning to an unknown destination as rebel forces closed in.
The opposition fighters reached the suburbs of the capital yesterday for the first time since the region was recaptured by government troops in 2018.
Earlier the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that Assad ‘wasn’t exactly good to the Syrian people’.
‘The situation looks very serious and if (the) Assad regime has fallen, then I welcome that news, but what we need to see is a political resolution in line with the UN resolutions,’ she said.
‘We need to see civilians and infrastructure protected, far too many people have lost their lives, we need stability in that region.’
Ms Rayner later said: ‘Dictatorship and terrorism creates problems for the people of Syria, who have faced so much already and also destabilises the region.
‘That’s why we have to have a political solution where the government is acting in the interests of the Syrian people.’
Assad, who had crushed all forms of dissent, flew out of Damascus for an unknown destination earlier on Sunday, two senior army officers told Reuters, as rebels said they had entered the capital with no sign of army deployments.
