by Chris Schang

In a growing sign that things are getting worse in Syria for President Bashar Assad, there is a report circulating that the Russians have offered Assad and his family asylum from the current crisis engulfing Syria. With Arab League monitors moving into Syria to assess the situation, pressure is being placed on Assad to stop his mass killings and oppression of his political foes. The Israel Nation News reports:

Russia has offered Syrian President Bashar al-Assad political asylum, a report in the Arab media said Sunday. The London-based Arabic daily al-Sharq al-Awsat said that the offer extends to Assad and his family. The government would then be run by Assad’s vice-president, Farouk ash-Shara, for a transition period, until new elections are held.

Moscow presented the offer to ash-Shara in a meeting several weeks ago, the report said. A source in Russia said that appointing ash-Shara to run the government would immediately reduce tensions, because he was a Sunni Muslim, the same sect as the majority of Syrians, as opposed to an Alawite, the sect Assad belongs to.