Syria's Ahmad Al-Sharaa Asks Russia To Handover Exiled Leader Bashar Al-Assad: Report

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Syria's de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa has requested Russia to hand over exiled leader Bashar al-Assad, according to a report by Reuters. The former Syrian president, a key Russian ally in the Middle East, fled to Moscow last year after being ousted in a rebel offensive that ended five decades of rule by the Assad family.

Syrian news agency Sana said Damascus also wanted Russia, which backed Bashar al-Assad in the country's civil war, to rebuild trust through "concrete measures such as compensation, reconstruction and recovery".

A high-level Russian delegation in Syria expressed support for the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity following the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Moscow's foreign ministry said Wednesday.

Reuters reports that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the request from al-Sharaa to hand over Bashar al-Assad.

Russia sent its first high-level delegation to the war-torn country on Tuesday, with Moscow keen to retain two military bases in Syria.

"The Russian side reaffirmed its unwavering support for the unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.

It said the visit came at a "crunch point" in Russia-Syria relations, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it an "important trip".

"It is necessary to build and maintain a permanent dialogue with the Syrian authorities, which is what we will continue to do," Peskov told reporters.

The delegation was led by deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who is also Putin's special envoy on the Middle East and Africa, and met with Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

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