Putin gives asylum to fugitive dictator Assad

The rebels reiterated their assurances that Syria is for all, including Druze, Sunnis, Alawites. Would not tell women how to dress, the Islamists said

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DAMASCUS OUSTED Syrian leader Bashar Assad fled to Moscow and received asylum from his longtime ally, Russian media said on Sunday, hours after a stunning rebel advance seized control of Damascus and ended his family's 50 years of iron rule.

The arrival of Assad and his family in Moscow was reported by Russian agencies Tass and RIA, citing an unidentified source at the Kremlin. RIA also said Syrian insurgents had guaranteed the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic posts in Syria.

Earlier, Russia said Assad left Syria after negotiations with rebel groups and that he had given instructions to transfer power peacefully.

The leader of Syria's biggest rebel faction, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, is poised to chart the country's future. The former al-Qaida commander cut ties with the group years ago and says he embraces pluralism and religious tolerance.

His Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, is considered a terrorist organization by the US and the UN. In his first public appearance since fighters entered the Damascus suburbs Saturday, al-Golani visited the Umayyad Mosque and described Assad's fall as "a victory to the Islamic nation."

Calling himself by his given name, Ahmad al-Sharaa, and not his nom de guerre, he said Assad had made Syria "a farm for Iran's greed."