📰 ASSAD IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND IN DAMASCUS, SOURCE SAYS The official line of the Syrian president’s office is that Assad hasn’t fled the capital. But a source with knowledge of the situation tells CNN that Assad isn’t at any of the locations in the city where you’d expect to find him. Assad’s Presidential Guard are no longer deployed at his usual place of residence, as they would be if he was there, the source said, fueling speculation he may have escaped Damascus.