Prez Putin's call to grant Assad asylum in Russia: Kremlin

The Kremlin said on Monday President Vladimir Putin had made the decision to grant asylum in Russia to Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted as Syria's president by a lightning rebel offensive.

- Reuters

Russian news agencies cited an unidentified Kremlin source on Sunday as saying Assad was in Moscow with his family.

"Such decisions cannot be made without the head of state. This is his decision," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters but gave no further details on Assad's movements.

Assad's departure removes a bastion from which Iran and Russia wielded power across the Middle East. Assad's father, Hafez al-Assad, sided with the Soviet Union to try to achieve parity with US-backed Israel.