Syrian Ambassador to Moscow requests asylum after Damascus recall..

Syrian Ambassador to Moscow Bashar al-Jaafari has requested asylum in Russia, a source toldRussia’s TASS news agency, Mr. al-Jaafari served as a prominent diplomat for the previous government of Bashar al-Assad and may face detention and an investigation if he returns to Damascus…

According to Russian business newspaper Kommersant, the Syrian diaspora demanded that he be recalled to Damascus, as they consider him a key representative of the previous government who supported Bashar al-Assad.

Last week, it became known that Bashar al-Jaafari was being recalled to the central office of the Syrian Foreign Ministry in connection with the reshuffle in the country’s diplomatic missions abroad, From 2020 to 2022, Mr. Jaafari served as Deputy Foreign Minister of Syria. Between 2006 and 2020, he served as the Syrian ambassador to the UN in New York.

During the US and Israeli-backed covert war to topple the government of Bashar al-Assad that began in 2011, Jaafari became well-known internationally. He frequently gave interviews highlighting the role of foreign powers and intelligence agencies in seeking regime change in Syria, including regarding the alleged chemical attacks in Ghouta in 2013.

After the Assad government fell to foreign-backed militants from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the former Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, in December, Mr. Jaafari reversed his stance, giving public interviews from Moscow criticizing Assad, “The previous regime was not a true system but a mafia-like organization that subordinated the country’s interests for personal gain, which is why it fell so quickly,” Jaafari stated.