Assad rejected deal with US before his ouster: Washington Post

Former Syrian President Bashar Assad on the eve of his ouster rejected a deal with the United States, which "indirectly" hinted it might gradually lift sanctions "in return for Assad severing Iran's ability to arm and sustain Hezbollah militants in Lebanon using land routes through Syria," Bassam Barabandi, a former Syrian diplomat, told The Washington Post.

As the daily noted, a few weeks before the armed opposition's offensive in Syria the Americans through the United Arab Emirates asked the former Syrian leader to refuse to let Iran use Syria's territory to deliver supplies to the Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah. In return, the US promised a gradual lifting of sanctions. Assad rejected the proposal.

More fatal for Assad, according to The Washington Post, was his refusal to establish relations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who suggested normalizing relations with Damascus in exchange for the containment of Kurdish forces and the return home of at least some Syrian refugees.

On November 27, armed opposition groups launched a large-scale offensive against the positions of the Syrian army in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib. By the evening of December 7, they captured several major cities: Aleppo, Hama, Deraa and Homs. On December 8, they entered Damascus. The Syrian government army left the city. Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali expressed his readiness for a peaceful transfer of power. As the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, Assad resigned and left the country, calling for a handover of power.