Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government is in its final stages and will be unable to survive as more parts of the country slip from his control, the head of Germany’s foreign intelligence agency (BND) was reported as saying. “Armed rebels are co-ordinating better, which is making their fight against Assad more effective,” Gerhard Schindler told the Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung newspaper, in an interview made public 8 December.
Fighting around Damasus has intensified over the past week, and Western officials have begun speaking about faster change on the ground in the conflict. “Evidence is mounting that the regime in Damascus is now in its final phase,” Schindler said. Assad was losing control of more and more parts of the country, and was focusing his energy on defending Damascus, key military sites and airports, Schindler added. Schindler’s comments echoed remarks made yesterday by US ambassador to Syria Robert Ford, who was withdrawn last year.