President Joe Biden on Sunday said the United States would engage with “all Syrian groups” over the political transition after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad.
“We will engage with all Syrian groups, including within the process led by the United Nations, to establish a transition away from the Assad regime toward independent, sovereign” Syria “with a new constitution.”
Biden also said fallen al-Assad should be held responsible for his rule over Syria now that his government has been toppled.
Asked what should happen to the deposed president, who reportedly has fled to Moscow, Biden told reporters that “Assad should be held accountable.”
He called al-Assad’s fall from power a “moment of historic opportunity” for Syria.
“The fall of the regime is a fundamental act of justice,” Biden said, speaking from the White House. “It’s a moment of historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria.”
Assad’s reported departure comes less than two weeks after the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group challenged more than five decades of Assad family rule with a lightning rebel offensive that broke long-frozen front lines in the country’s civil war.
Early Sunday, they announced they had entered Damascus and that Assad had fled, prompting celebrations around the country and a ransacking of Assad’s luxurious home.
