Syria's de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa has requested Russia to hand over exiled leader Bashar al-Assad (pictured above), according to a new report by Reuters.
The former Syrian president, a key Russian ally in the Middle East, fled to Moscow last year after being ousted in a rebel offensive that ended five decades of rule by the Assad family.
Syrian news agency Sana said Damascus also wanted Russia, which backed Bashar al-Assad in the country's civil war, to rebuild trust through "concrete measures such as compensation, reconstruction and recovery".
A high-level Russian delegation in Syria expressed support for the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity following the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Moscow's foreign ministry said Wednesday.
Reuters reports that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the request from al-Sharaa to hand over Bashar al-Assad.
Russia sent its first high-level delegation to Syria on Tuesday, with Moscow keen to retain two military bases in Syria.
Comments