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Speaker 1: Bashah Alisad has reportedly fled to Moscow. Now Russian state

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Speaker 1: media is reporting that he and his family have been

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Speaker 1: granted asylum over there, and this is, of course, after

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Speaker 1: he fled Syria once the rebels took the capital of Damascus.

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Speaker 1: Sky News Middle East correspondent Alister Bunkler is with US now, Hey,

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Speaker 1: Alistair Hi Heather and anyway, surprised that he's turned up

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Speaker 1: in Moscow.

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Speaker 2: No, I think if you were betting where Asad might

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Speaker 2: flee to, then Moscow or Tehran would probably be at

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Speaker 2: the top of your list. There was some room that

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Speaker 2: he might have gone to the United Arab Emirates. I

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Speaker 2: think a private jet was tracked in going in that direction.

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Speaker 2: But no, I'm not surprised he's gone to Moscow. Russia

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Speaker 2: and Iran were two of Syria's biggest backers, and Russia

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Speaker 2: has a real strategic interest in Syria as well, and

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Speaker 2: so no, it doesn't surprise me that that is where

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Speaker 2: he's ended up.

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Speaker 1: So look, I mean, there are a lot of people

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Speaker 1: who are going to be celebrating the end of his tenure.

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Speaker 1: But the thing is whatever comes next may be worse,

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Speaker 1: maybe just as bad. How strong is the tie through

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Speaker 1: to Isis with these.

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Speaker 2: Rebels, I mean, that is the question. I mean in

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Speaker 2: terms of what comes next. Yeah, people are celebrating the

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Speaker 2: downfall of Assad. They're celebrating the demise of fifty four

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Speaker 2: years of an Assad dynasty that has ruled over Syria

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Speaker 2: with brutality. It's been a murderous regime. But you know,

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Speaker 2: we mustn't overlook the fact that a major part of

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Speaker 2: the group that has managed to overthrow him. And there's

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Speaker 2: multiple rebel groups, but the biggest of those is a

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Speaker 2: designated terrorist organization by the US, by the United Nations.

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Speaker 2: It had links with al Qaeda. And there are remnants

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Speaker 2: of Islamic State still in Syria and they've been kind

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Speaker 2: of kept sort of at bay over recent years. But

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Speaker 2: a power vacuum, which is what we have now, is

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Speaker 2: kind of the perfect environment for groups like Islamic State

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Speaker 2: to thrive in, to take advantage of. And that is

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Speaker 2: why that Yeah, I get on the one hand why

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Speaker 2: people in Syria are obviously celebrating this kind of new dawn,

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Speaker 2: but on the other hand, we do have to be

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Speaker 2: quite concerned about what comes next.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, Alistair, thanks for your expertise, mate. That's Alista buncle

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Speaker 1: Sky News Middle East correspondent.

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