BASHAR al-Assad has broken his silence to claim Vladimir Putin forced him into a cowardly escape from Syria - but he wanted to stay and fight. The ousted tyrant released a statement from Moscow, insisting he had to flee after the Russian base he was hiding in began to be bombed. Assad dished out fighting talk from the safety of his bolthole in the Russian capital, saying the only course of action had been to stay and fight - before he then left. The statement was published today on the Syrian presidency's Telegram channel and was Assad's first public comment...