Assad might get asylum in Moscow

Israeli press sources claimed the US and Russia are negotiating to develop an acceptable agreement to end the rule of President Bashar Al-Assad in the way of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. According to the 'Yediot Ahronot' Hebrew newspaper, political analyst Alex Fishman on Thursday wrote the US-Russian plan aimed at re-stabilising Syria and and stopping Assad's massacre. The deal is supposed to resonate with the Gulf-brokered power transfer deal to Saleh, in which he transferred power to one of his associates and keep his family members in control of the country's security forces, granting him political asylum in Washington in return. The newspaper wrote: "A team of Russian foreign ministers is negotiating for weeks with their US counterparts in Washington DC to develop a formula similar to that that ended the rule of Saleh in Yemen." The US-Russian plan aims at Assad accepting to leave the country and transfer power to some party in Damascus that wouldl be acceptable to the US and grant him political asylum in Moscow in return. The S apparently tried to convince the Russians of the need to exert pressure on Assad, in order to acceptthe deal and leave the country and end the violence gripping Syria. The paper also claims that Lebanese outfit Hezbollah, which strongly supports Assad's regime, is making intensive negotiations with the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria to secure its interests, in case the pan-Arab organisation came to power after the fall of Assad. In anticipation of the expected fall, the newspaper added : "Hezbollah is doing a wide transfer process of its weapon warehouses in Syria, and bring it back to in the Lebanese territory, for fear of cutting off military supplies in case of the removal of Bashar Al-Assad's regime." Israeli sources have expressed fears that Hezbollah might attain sophisticated weaponry previously refused to them by Assad, including Syrian missiles recently acquired from Russia.