Syria's President Bashar al-Assad addresses the new members of parliament in Damascus, Syria in this handout released by SANA on August 12, 2020.
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Assad says he didn’t plan to flee Syria, in apparent first public statement

A statement posted to social media in Moscow appears to detail the events leading to former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s decision to flee the country for Russia. CNN’s Frederick Pleitgen breaks it down.

2:40 • Source: CNN
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Syria's President Bashar al-Assad addresses the new members of parliament in Damascus, Syria in this handout released by SANA on August 12, 2020.
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Assad says he didn’t plan to flee Syria, in apparent first public statement
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<p>Dong Guangping, a former police officer who has tried to flee Chinese authorities three times before, arrived in South Korea in an inflatable boat after being picked up by South Korean Coast Guard on Monday, his lawyer and a fellow activist told CNN. CNN’s Ivan Watson spoke with Dong’s family friend and a fellow dissident-in-exile who described Dong’s dangerous journey at sea.</p>
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