CNN —Ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s departure from the country was unplanned, according to a statement posted Monday on the Syrian Presidency Telegram account, purporting to be from Assad. It’s unclear if Assad still controls the Telegram account. If the statement is authentic, it would mark the first time he has publicly commented on events since his regime fell this month. “My departure from Syria was neither planned nor did it occur during the final hours of the battles, as some have claimed. On the contrary, I remained in Damascus, carrying out my duties until the early hours of Sunday 8th December 2024,” the statement from the Syrian Presidency account on Telegram said.

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Persons: CNN —, Bashar al, Assad, “, ”, ” Assad Organizations: CNN, Syrian, Telegram Locations: Syria, Damascus, Syria’s Hmeimim, Russia, Moscow