CAIRO: A lightning rebel offensive early this month caught Syria鈥檚 ruling clan off guard.
President Bashar Assad fled to Russia on December 8, leaving behind many of his collaborators, some of whom sought refuge in neighboring countries.
According to two sources, the ousted president, who fled to Moscow via the Russian military airfield in Hmeimim on Syria鈥檚 coast, was accompanied by only a handful of confidants.
Among them were his closet ally, the secretary-general of presidential affairs Mansour Azzam, as well as his economic adviser Yassar Ibrahim, who oversees the financial empire of Assad and his wife, Asma.
鈥淗e left with his secretary and his treasurer,鈥� an insider who requested anonymity said, mockingly.
Bashar鈥檚 brother, Maher Assad, commander of the elite Fourth Division tasked with defending Damascus, did not know about his sibling鈥檚 plans.
Leaving his men stranded, Maher took a separate route, fleeing by helicopter to Iraq before traveling to Russia, according to a Syrian military source.
An Iraqi security source told AFP that Maher arrived in Iraq by plane on December 7 and stayed there for five days.
Maher鈥檚 wife, Manal Al-Jadaan and his son briefly entered Lebanon before departing through Beirut airport, said Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi, without disclosing their final destination.
Another Assad government heavyweight, Ali Mamlouk, the former chief of Syria鈥檚 security apparatus, fled to Russia via Iraq, said a Syrian military source.
His son passed through Lebanon before leaving for another destination, according to a Lebanese security source.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry denied on Monday the presence of either Maher Assad or Mamlouk in Iraq.
Both are wanted men.
Maher 鈥� and Bashar Assad 鈥� are wanted by France for alleged complicity in war crimes over chemical attacks in Syria in August 2013.
The French courts have already sentenced Mamlouk and Jamil Hassan, former head of Syria鈥檚 Air Force Intelligence, in absentia to life imprisonment for complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes.
On Friday, the Lebanese authorities received an Interpol alert relaying a US request to arrest Hassan and hand him over to the US authorities, should he enter the country.
The United States accuses Hassan of 鈥渨ar crimes,鈥� including overseeing barrel bomb attacks on Syrian people that killed thousands of civilians.
A Lebanese judicial source told AFP that they had no confirmation of Hassan鈥檚 presence in Lebanon, but assured that he would be detained if found.
Other prominent figures also made hasty escapes.
Bouthaina Shaaban, former translator for Hafez Assad 鈥� Bashar鈥檚 father who founded the brutal system of government his son inherited 鈥� fled to Lebanon on the night of December 7-8.
Shaaban, Bashar Assad鈥檚 long-time political adviser, then traveled to Abu Dhabi, according to a friend in Beirut.
Kifah Mujahid, head of the Baath Brigades 鈥� the military wing of Syria鈥檚 former ruling party 鈥� escaped to Lebanon by boat, a party source told AFP.
Other officials took refuge in their hometowns in Alawite regions, some of them told AFP. Assad hailed from Syria鈥檚 Alawite minority.
Not all escape attempts were successful.
Ihab Makhlouf, Bashar Assad鈥檚 cousin and a prominent businessman, was killed on December 7 while trying to flee Damascus.
His twin brother, Iyad, was injured in the same incident, said a military official from the former government.
Their elder sibling, Rami Makhlouf, once considered Syria鈥檚 richest man and a symbol of the regime鈥檚 corruption, managed to survive.
Several other figures close to Assad鈥檚 government crossed into Lebanon, according to a security source and a source in the business world. These included Ghassan Belal, head of Maher鈥檚 office, and businessmen Mohammed Hamsho, Khalid Qaddur, Samer Debs and Samir Hassan.
A former Lebanese minister with close ties to Syria said that several senior Syrian military officers were granted safe passage by the Russians to the Hmeimim air base.
They were rewarded for instructing their troops not to resist the rebel offensive in order to avoid further bloodshed, he said.