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The writing was on the wall: the fall of the Assad government in Syria
VIJAY PRASHAD explains the political realignments that lead to the sudden collapse of Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria

AS THE rebel forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (Syria Liberation Committee, HTS) seized Damascus, Syria’s capital, on December 7 2024, the president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad boarded a flight to Moscow, Russia.
It was the end of the rule of the Assad family that began when Hafez al-Assad (1930-2000) became president in 1971, and continued through his son Bashar from 2000 — a 53-year-long rule.
HTS was formed out of the remnants of the al-Qaida affiliate in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra (Front for the Conquest of Syria) in 2017 and led by its emir (leader) Abu Jaber Shaykh and its military commander Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.
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VIJAY PRASHAD reflects on the latest developments in Syria and what they mean for the Middle East