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Moscow Changing Tack on Relationship with Assad
(Asharq Al-Awsat - UK) - Clear signs are emerging of a dramatic U-turn in Russia's policy toward the regime of Bashar Al-Assad in Syria, with Moscow even beginning to consider a "future without Assad" for the country, sources have told Asharq Al-Awsat. Moscow, along with Tehran, is one of the biggest supporters of the Assad regime, but the sources say there has been a recent change in comments from Russian officials as well as other, more substantive, changes, indicating a major shift in Russia's relationship with the Syrian government. Sources from the Syrian opposition said Moscow had also recently transferred around 100 senior diplomatic and technical officials working in Syria back to Russia. Many of them were working in the Damascus operations center providing support to Syrian security and military officials, alongside their Iranian counterparts and members of the Lebanese Shi'ite group Hizbullah.