Assad is in Moscow, given asylum

Ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad fled to Moscow on Sunday, Russian media reported, hours after a stunning rebel advance took over the capital of Damascus and ended the Assad family's 50 years of iron rule.The Russian agencies, Tass and RIA, cited an unidentified Kremlin source on Assad and his family being given asylum in Moscow, his longtime ally and protector. The Associated Press was not immediately able to verify the reports but contacted the Kremlin for comment.RIA also said Moscow had received guarantees from Syrian insurgents of the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic posts in Syria.Assad reportedly left Syria early Sunday, and Syrians have been pouring into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire after a stunning rebel advance reached the capital, ending the Assad family's 50 years of iron rule.The swiftly moving events have raised questions about the future of the country and the wider region. Russia has requested an emergency session of the UN Security Council discuss the situation in Syria, Russia's first deputy permanent representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, posted on Telegram.Joyful crowds gathered in squares in Damascus, waving the Syrian revolutionary flag in scenes that recalled the early days of the Arab Spring uprising, before a brutal crackdown and the rise of an insurgency plunged the country into a nearly 14-year civil war.Others gleefully ransacked the presidential palace and residence after Assad and other top officials vanished.Abu Mohammed al-Golani, a former al-Qaida commander who cut ties with the group years ago and says he embraces pluralism and religious tolerance, leads the biggest rebel faction and is poised to chart the country's future.In his first public appearance since fighters entered the Damascus suburbs Saturday, al-Golani visited the sprawling Umayyad Mosque and called Assad's fall "a victory to the Islamic nation." A video shared on Syrian opposition media showed armed men escorting him from his office and to the Four Seasons hotel on Sunday.Anwar Gargash said Assad's destination at this point is a "footnote in history," comparing it to the long exile of German Kaiser Wilhelm II after World War I.Calls for an orderly transitionThe rebel advances since November 27 were the largest in recent years, and saw the cities of Aleppo, Hama and Homs fall within days as the Syrian army melted away.