the nation wakes to its first full day in the post—assad regime era. this is the scene in the capital damascus right now. it is 1230 lunchtime. russian media says bashar al—assad and his family are in moscow, having been given political asylum. they are believed to be in the city. syria celebrates the downfall of a family dynasty that ruled for more than half a century. an historic moment in every sense of the word. ahmed al—shar�*a abu mohammad al—julani here for the first time in the great umayyad mosque. and in other news... and rapperjay—z is accused of raping a thirteen year old girl. he's named with sean �*diddy�* combs in a civil lawsuit. both deny the claim. hello.

let's return to our top story this morning. syria's former president bashar al—assad is in moscow afterfleeing damascus, according to russian state media. the assad family controlled syria with an iron fist for 53 years. hafez had been in control since the 1970s. our international editorjeremy bowen has more on the family dynasty which was once all powerful, and ruthless against its enemeies. bashar al—assad inherited the regime when his father hafez died in 2000, who in 30 bloody years since seizing power, had jailed and killed tens of thousands, anyone who threatened his rule. after he buried hafez al—assad, syrians hoped bashar, trained as a doctor in london, would reform and modernise the country. so did tony blair and other western leaders.

blair went to damascus in 2001. the president of syria and mrs al—assad. i a year later, bashar al—assad and his wife asma, who grew up in london, paid a call on the queen. assad never delivered change. and even when thousands, and then millions of syrians, demanded the fall of the regime after 2011, the year of the arab uprisings, he might still have saved the country from war by embracing reform. but instead of that, bashar al—assad went to his rubber stamp parliament in march 2011, declared foreigners were conspiring to destroy syria, and effectively declared war on any syrian who opposed him. by august 2013, losing ground, assad used chemical weapons against rebel—held suburbs of damascus. it was a turning point in the war. the americans backed down from

a threat to bomb the regime. and assad believed he'd made the americans blink first. in february 2015, i had an exclusive interview with bashar al—assad. i asked him about bombing civilians. he was defiant, denied it, and even tried a joke. what about barrel bombs? you don't deny that your forces use them. i know about the army. they use bullets, missiles and bombs. i haven't heard of army using barrels, or maybe cooking pots! large barrels full of explosives and projectiles which are dropped from helicopters and explode with devastating effect. there's been a lot of testimony about these things. they�* re called bombs. we have bombs, missiles and bullets. a year later, the russian air force had flattened the side of aleppo held by rebels, a display of destructive power that sharpened president putin's appetite to absorb ukraine. many of the rebels who lived here, and in other enclaves, were permitted to leave

for idlib province. in idlib, they created the fighting force that has finally destroyed the assad regime. in saudi arabia, in may last year, basharal—assad was embraced by crown prince mohammed bin salman, the most powerful arab leader, and readmitted to the arab league. assad repeated the regime's old boast that syria was the beating heart of arabism. he must have hoped that rehabilitation was sealing his victory. instead, when the rebels pushed out of idlib, his regime collapsed in less than a fortnight. jeremy bowen, bbc news. you can read more from jeremy on the bbc news website and app. dareen khalifa is a senior advisor at the international crisis group a brussels—based think tank — and joins me now from doha. thank you forjoining us. i

wondered if i could get your initial reaction to what has happened in the last 48 hours. thank you for having me. it has been an incredible week. it has been an incredible week. it has been an incredible week. it has been a crazy few days on the ground in syria. everyone has been following closely but nobody is actually able to keep up nobody is actually able to keep up and catch up with the pace of events. we have been warning that this is a possibility that the very fragile front lines may collapse at any moment. we have also warned that the status quo in syria is unsustainable and that the rebels are preparing for something, obviously we did not anticipate it to be that big or that quick, to be very honest. i don't think they anticipated it was going to be that big that quick. the realities on the ground has changed. the regime has completely collapsed, the russians are nowhere to be seen. the axis of resistance, including iran,

their significance has been diminished in syria. it is a completely different strategic and local dynamic. it is going to really be a new reality, not just for syria, but for the entire region.— just for syria, but for the entire region. just for syria, but for the entire reuion, , , ., ., entire region. just explain who the rebels _ entire region. just explain who the rebels are, _ entire region. just explain who the rebels are, and _ entire region. just explain who the rebels are, and their - the rebels are, and their leader. ,, ., , ., ., ., leader. hts, r hayat tahrir-al shams, leader. hts, r hayat tahrir-al shams. is— leader. hts, r hayat tahrir-al shams. is a — leader. hts, r hayat tahrir-al shams, is a group _ leader. hts, r hayat tahrir-al shams, is a group that - leader. hts, r hayat tahrir-ali shams, is a group that emerged as part of the jihadists in the post—2003 iraq to fight the us invasion. since then, the group and its leader, known as abu mohammed al—jawlani until recently, tried to distance himself and his group from isis and al-qaeda and tried to move away by shredding all international ties and connections. and very clearly started stating that they are objective and their goal is to

fight the syrian regime and its backers in syria. in an interview a few years ago he once told me, you know, my fight is with this regime and the russians in syria, not in moscow, i am the russians in syria, not in moscow, iam not the russians in syria, not in moscow, i am not going to go after anyone out of the context of syria. if the russians back off from fighting the regime, we are welcome to work with them, really. he has been taking fundamental shifts and u—turns in the trajectory of the group. it has been trying to recast himself and his group as a local, islamist, syrian, rebel, freedom fighting group thatis rebel, freedom fighting group that is only focused on what they call liberating syria from decades of tyranny and decades of injustice that was imposed on everyone by the syrian regime. on everyone by the syrian reaime. ., i. regime. you said you interviewed - regime. you said you interviewed him. - regime. you said you | interviewed him. what regime. you said you - interviewed him. what did you make of him as a man? i interviewed him. what did you make of him as a man?- make of him as a man? i have interviewed — make of him as a man? i have interviewed him _ make of him as a man? i have interviewed him many- make of him as a man? i have interviewed him many times. |

make of him as a man? i have i interviewed him many times. he is a very charismatic young syrian man. he has a lot of ambitions. i used to describe them as lofty ambitions. now, you know what, he has achieved a lot of it. you list talk to me about liberating damascus and i used to push back and say that was unrealistic, how are you going to do that? and, you know what, these lofty ambitions came to be true. he takes a lot of risks. obviously, he has challenge the leaders of al-qaeda and isis. he has taken a lot of risks in his career and track record and has prevailed, has survived this very bloody war in syria, and in iraq. he strikes me as a politician. he is ready to strike deals, he is not an ideologue, he is willing to talk to people, to compromise. that doesn't make him moderate or liberal, just makes him what it is, political person who is

ready to talk and to engage with people, which i think is a huge positive step from where we were a few weeks ago when the syrian regime was neither willing to talk or to compromise, orto willing to talk or to compromise, or to move an inch on anything. compromise, or to move an inch on anything-— on anything. 0k, thank you very much forjoining _ on anything. 0k, thank you very much forjoining us _ on anything. 0k, thank you very much forjoining us with - on anything. 0k, thank you very much forjoining us with your. much forjoining us with your insight on the rebel group, the hts, who are in syria now. thank you very much indeed. thank you very much indeed. thank you very much indeed. thank you for having me. let's continue this discussion, the chief correspondent for the news website and has recently returned from syria. i am going to ask you the same question as ijust asked our other to ask you the same question as i just asked our other guests, your reaction to the events in the last 48 hours.— the last 48 hours. well, i mean, the last 48 hours. well, i mean. all— the last 48 hours. well, i mean, all of _ the last 48 hours. well, i mean, all of us _ the last 48 hours. well, i mean, all of us were - the last 48 hours. well, i - mean, all of us were completely stunned. nobody expected this offensive to advance as rapidly and result in the overthrow of the assad regime. having said that, we also note that these types of regimes for a long

time lick immutable and then very quickly crumbled. we have seen this elsewhere, we have seen this elsewhere, we have seen this elsewhere, we have seen this in libya. of course, this is a very complicated picture right now that we are presented with, and obviously all sharing the joy of the millions of syrians who suffered under the terrible regime. suffered under the terrible reaime. ., ' . , regime. how difficult is it auoin regime. how difficult is it going to _ regime. how difficult is it going to be _ regime. how difficult is it going to be to _ regime. how difficult is it going to be to get - regime. how difficult is it going to be to get all- regime. how difficult is it going to be to get all of. regime. how difficult is it l going to be to get all of the rebel factions that are in syria to work together as they are suggesting they can, the hts anyway?— are suggesting they can, the hts anyway? that is one of the million dollar _ hts anyway? that is one of the million dollar question - hts anyway? that is one of the million dollar question is, - million dollar question is, obviously, because particularly the rebel groups that are under techie plasma direct sponsorship, are fractures and corrupt and some of them have been designated by the united states and the united nations for the horrible abuses they

have committed, particularly against the local kurdish population there. we also know that hts is a much more disciplined group and as your other guest just described, disciplined group and as your other guestjust described, abu mohammed al—jawlani is a very powerful leader who obviously has far more control over the man he is guiding. will he be able to extend that control over those other groups that will obviously want a share of the pie? all of this remains to be seen and let us not forget of course the other main actor, non—state actor in syria, are the kurds, the syrian democratic forces that are backed by the united states but are deemed as enemies, as a threat to turkey's national security by ankara. find threat to turkey's national security by ankara. and you mention _ security by ankara. and you mention the _ security by ankara. and you mention the united - security by ankara. and you mention the united states i mention the united states there. what you think the international community can do? we have a un security council

meeting later. is there much they can do to influence what is going inside syria?- is going inside syria? well, i mean, is going inside syria? well, i mean. to — is going inside syria? well, i mean. to a _ is going inside syria? well, i mean, to a certain _ is going inside syria? well, i mean, to a certain extent. i mean, to a certain extent. obviously, the united states and the un can. i think it is too early to carve out a precise role for them diplomatically, obviously in terms of making sure that humanitarian aid reaches people there, because that has been hugely complicated by russia and china for all these years, who were blocking access to the non—regime held areas, that will be, i imagine, one of the first orders of business. to look beyond that, at the diplomatic picture, we have this meeting of foreign ministers, russia, iran, turkey and others in qatar, where they laid out a road map. all of these groups are talking about these groups are talking about the un resolution that foresaw creating a constitution and

then holding elections in syria, whether that is feasible or not at this time. it is very difficult to know. even as we speak, turkish forces and their rebel proxies are attacking kurds in north—eastern syria. i suppose the nightmare scenario is that syria ends up in the same way as a reacted after saddam hussein, and libya after colonel gaddafi. in saddam hussein, and libya after colonel gaddafi.— colonel gaddafi. in iraq, you had a us _ colonel gaddafi. in iraq, you had a us occupation - colonel gaddafi. in iraq, you had a us occupation force i colonel gaddafi. in iraq, you i had a us occupation force that a sort of imposed its will for a sort of imposed its will for a while, but then you had the reaction to that and insurgency. this is a very different situation. you don't have an occupation army, beyond turkish forces that are on the ground. and on the turkish border, who are there together with the rebel groups that they protect, who they equip, and who now together with hts have reclaimed the country, that

nightmare scenario really is what happens if turkey persists in its attacks against the kurds. there are some 50,000 isis fighters and their families who are in internment camps and prisons are north—east syria. the big worry, of course, is that these people might try and break out and try and exploit the vacuum to do that. we have tried that in the past. wejust to do that. we have tried that in the past. we just saw the commander, united states general in charge of the forces there, warning against any further attacks against the kurdish led group and we also just saw a very influential republican senator, lindsey graham, who we know is quite close to trump, plays golf with him, threatening turkey with sanctions again because sanctions again because sanctions had been imposed on turkey in the past when trump was