Russia grants political asylum to ex-Syrian Prez Bashar al-Assad

Moscow: Ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his family have arrived in Moscow and been granted asylum "out of humanitarian considerations", Kremlin said.

Putting an end to speculation about the whereabouts of Syria's former President after rebel forces seized control of Damascus, the Russian foreign ministry announced that Assad "decided to resign the presidency and left the country".

Russia has requested a closed-door UN Security Council meeting to discuss the UN peacekeeping mission in the Golan Heights, according to diplomats. Russia, which has two key military bases in Syria, is a staunch ally of Assad and had intervened in Syria's 13-year civil war in an effort to keep him in power.