Posted on 01/31/2012 11:25:12 AM PST by gandalftb
Asma Assad, her children, Bashar Assad's mother and his cousin were all in a convoy on the way to the airport when rebel forces under the command of a former senior officer in the Syrian army, blocked the their path.
After heavy exchanges of fire, the presidential security forces managed to get the convoy back to the presidential palace.
General Mahmoud Halouf, former head of the Palestine branch of Syrian intelligence, along with 300 former soldiers who deserted with him, said that when they saw the convoy, they believed it was an attempt to smuggle senior officials out of the country – which is why they blocked the convoy's path.
(Excerpt) Read more at ynetnews.com ...
Asma has a British passport and a home in London. She was a former banker for J.P. Morgan.
The Assad family has been selling off their real estate all over the world, in a hurry, since last September.
The Assad family is clearly preparing for the worst and is mindful of the confiscations that happened to Ghadaffi and other fallen dictators.
The Assads are losing, the Free Syrian Army is now holding entire towns and neighborhoods, defections are rampant all the way through Generals and Colonels.
The trend is towards government collapse and the Assads don't have the friends to stop it.
This means that Assad’s time is limited. He’s going down, and soon!
I wonder if the rebels can defeat the guards, kill the tyrants and take off with their cash/gold that was looted from the treasury and they were probably smuggling out?
—This means that Assad’s time is limited. He’s going down, and soon!—
If this story is true, that would be my take as well. I like that this is not involving us overtly.
The dictator thus has strong incentive to figure out a way to follow rather than fight to the death and take as many down with him as possible.
Assad, jerk that he is, will not give way to a more pleasant successor. More than likely, it will be the Muslim Brotherhood (Al Qaida allies) or an Iranian puppet (Hezbollah allies).
Zer0's Muslim outreach is paying off big time in winning us friends. < / sarcasm >
Will Øbama grant Assad asylum?
Sounds like the end game for Assad is going to be the Quadaffi scenario.
He could possibly use those WMD’s that Saddam is rumored to have stored in Damascus turning it into a deserted city.
Don’t forget the Russian base at Tartus.
Sadly, that would be a step up for the region.
I hope and pray that we on FR have not reached a point where we would rejoice in the brutal execution of a woman and her children just because the husband is a tyrant. Whatever becomes of Assad is the price he pays for the life he lived. But, for the radical Muslims who may soon take over to brutalize his wife and children is a sign of sickness.
Sorry to seem like a softie. But, there is a vital difference between being tough and being cruel.
Iranians
The $64,000 question is- are these defectors Sunnis that will look to Saudi Arabia or Awali retreads that will be bigger puppets of Iran. The entire middle east changes with a Sunni revolution.
Good points.
If the rebels let the family out, it will greatly increase desertions and instability in the remaining military.
However, the released family would be far better able, legally to transfer and hide wealth and get the nest feathered for Bashar when he bails.
The loot is likely already gone and hidden.
IMHO, let all the Assads out at any opportunity, change the regime and move on to a new government that will likely have a heavy Muslim Brotherhood influence.
Iran and Hezbollah are backing off. Qatar, the Saudi’s, Turkey and Israel are the major influences here.
“Don’t forget the Russian base at Tartus.”
The Russians will pay rent to any landlord, including Cyprus.
Remember in Libya, Qatar parachuted in $50K worth of weapons to the rebels...tougher to run the same type of operation in Syria.
Unlikely that the family will be injured. We have likely offered a safe way out to them all.
Revenge is a strong theme in the Middle East. Bashar al-Assad needs to think clearly here and get himself and his family out very soon.
No thinking person wants brutality for the non-combatants. However, Bashar may bring it on himself and his family because of the crimes of brutality that he ordered on his own people.
Another domino in the Global Caliphate game about to fall.
The FSA are largely Sunni deserters that are being organized and trained and armed in Jordan and then staging in Iskanderia, Turkey.
The Saudi’s are the bankers and the Qatari’s are the trainers.
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