Russia evacuates some diplomats out of Syria

Moscow, Dec 16 (IANS) Russia has evacuated some of its diplomats out of the Syrian capital Damascus while its embassy continues to function, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The diplomats were transported by a Russian Aerospace Forces flight from the Khmeimim Air Base in Syria to Moscow, the Ministry said on Sunday in a statement.

The flight also carried diplomats from Belarus and North Korea, it added as reported by Xinhua news agency.

"On December 15, the withdrawal of part of the personnel of the Russian (diplomatic) representation in Damascus was carried out by a special flight of the Russian Air Force from the Hmeimim air base" in Syria, the Ministry's crisis situations department said on Telegram.

The Ministry said the flight arrived at an airport near Moscow, without specifying how many people were aboard.

"The Russian embassy in Damascus continues to function," said the press statement published on Telegram.

Following an 11-day offensive, a rebel coalition dominated by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) overthrew Assad, who fled to Russia along with his family.

His fall from power was a serious setback for Moscow, which was along with Iran, the main ally of the former Syrian President, and which had intervened militarily in Syria since 2015.

The fate of Russia's two military bases in Syria -- the Tartus naval base and the Hmeimim military airfield -- is now uncertain.

The sites are key to Russia maintaining its influence in the Middle East, in the Mediterranean basin, and as far as Africa.

On Wednesday, a Kremlin spokesperson said Moscow was in contact with the new authorities in Syria regarding the bases' future.

The British government has had "diplomatic contact" with the Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), who are now in control of the country after resting power from the ousted President Bashar al-Assad.

The UK's Foreign Secretary David Lammy confirmed the development and said that HTS remains a banned terrorist outfit but the UK "can have diplomatic contact and so we do have diplomatic contact, as you would expect".

The US on Saturday also confirmed that it had made "direct contact" with the HTS rebel group which has led the rebels' uprising and is now in control of Damascus and most of Syria. Lammy's counterpart in the US, Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed it.

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