Former Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab ruled out a victory by the Bashar al-Assad regime, saying that Russia will learn sooner or later that it does not deserve its support and that it has been wrong to do so.
This came in a televised interview with the Qatari Al-Jazeera channel, a portion of which the former minister published on his Twitter account.
Hijab, who was formerly the general coordinator of the Syrian High Negotiations Committee, said that “the regime does not have the ability, the numbers or the military capability to take control of this area (Idleb).”
He added: “Everyone knows, even Bashar al-Assad and his commanders know, that they are under the protection and care of Russian special forces, even the high command in Damascus are under the protection of Russian forces.”
He addressed those who believed that Bashar al-Assad had won, saying: “There are severe signs of weakness in the Syrian state now. There are unacceptable and unreasonable signs such as the chaos in the regime-held areas, as well as the settling of scores between militias and regime forces.”
He added: “The regime is living in its worst state, in addition to the fact that Russia is working to dissolve the regime militias such as those under the Air Force Intelligence, and they number in the thousands.”
Hijab said: “Russia will learn sooner or later that Assad does not deserve all this effort and support, because they have erred in supporting Bashar and entrenching his rule. There has been a full chain of failure and collapse in the regime’s situation, which only cares about its own interests, even at the expense of its sect and all of its people.”
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
