Where is Assad? Syrian Dictator’s Whereabouts Can Not be Determined
Fighting continued in the heart of the Syrian capital for a fifth day on Tuesday, but the whereabouts of the country’s president Bashar al-Assad remained unclear a day after a bomber struck at the heart of his regime. Government forces fired heavy machine guns and mortar shells in a number of areas in Damascus, according to opposition groups, while residents were reported to be fleeing the Mezzeh neighbourhood after it was surrounded by troops.
Assad has made no public statements since the deaths of Assef Shawkat, the architect of the crackdown, defence minister Daoud Rajha and military committee member Hassan Turkmani.
Officials in Damascus said Assad was hard at work in his office. Activists and residents said he was in the family palace in Latakia – the coastal city in the Alawite heartland that serves as a power base of his Alawite sect, not his regime.
There have been no calls for calm from Assad, no messages of reassurance to a country that is entering the unknown and whose confidence in the state has clearly been shaken by Wednesday’s events. The 46-year-old leader may be wanting to project an image of business as usual.
