Syrian government ready to relinquish power — PM

Syria’s government is ready to transfer power peacefully, Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali pledged, Report informs via TASS.

According to al-Jalali, talks with the armed opposition which has taken power in Syria continue. "We are ready to cede our authority as soon as we are asked to," he told the Al Arabiya television channel. "Our top priority today is to make sure the basic needs of the Syrian people are provided for," he stressed.

Syria’s armed opposition units launched a large-scale offensive on government troops in the Aleppo and Idlib governorates on November 27. By the evening of December 7, they seized several large cities, including Aleppo, Hama, Deir ez-Zor, Daraa, and Homs. On December 8, they entered Damascus while government troops withdrew from the city. The head of the Syrian government, Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, expressed his readiness for a peaceful transfer of power in the country. According to a statement from the Russian foreign ministry, Bashar Assad resigned as president of Syria and fled the country, instructing for the peaceful transfer of power.