BRAND VALUES

Jubilant Syrians Loot Assad’s Louis Vuitton-Stuffed Palace

Regime has collapsed at lightning speed.

Extraordinary footage has emerged on social media of jubilant and outraged Syrians looting deposed President Bashar al-Assad’s palace, carting off Louis Vuitton-branded boxes and other luxury goods after the regime’s stunning collapse.

The shocking scenes come hours after rebel forces Saturday reached Damascus, declaring the capital city “liberated” as Assad fled the country.

Footage posted online, which appeared to have been taken inside the palace, showed looters rifling through bed linens, clothes and kitchen items, with one person carrying a distinctive orange Louis Vuitton-branded box.

Assad’s wife, the British-born Asma al-Assad, was long known for her love of expensive possessions.

In 2012, emails obtained from private accounts revealed Asma to be a voracious internet shopper, who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury products ranging from jewelry and fondue sets to art, furniture and other luxury items.

There have been reports of looters breaching the reserves of Syria’s Central Bank and walking out with bags full of cash.

Another video circulating online, the authenticity of which could not be verified, purports to show a garage stuffed with a secret collection of luxury cars including Porsche, Bugatti, Lamborghini and Mercedes vehicles.

Statues of Assad were torn down and rode like sleds through the streets.

Assad has ruled since July 2000, when he inherited the presidency from his father Hafez al-Assad, who took control of Syria in November 1970, after leading a coup against then-President Nureddin al-Atassi.

He has conducted a brutal civil war since a rebel uprising in 2011.

Damascus is now under the control of the rebel force, HTS (Hayyet Tahrir al-Sham), a radical Islamist group whose leader, Saudi-born Abu Mohammed al-Julani, is a former al-Qaeda fighter who was arrested by US forces in Iraq in 2006 and held for five years.

On Sunday it was reported that Israeli air strikes hit Syrian air bases and other military structures, suggesting Israel was seizing the moment to destroy weapons and ammunition widely believed to have been supplied to Assad by Iran.

Assad is believed to have headed to Russia, a key ally. Russia’s foreign ministry confirmed that Assad had “decided to resign from the presidency.”

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Tom SykesEuropean Editor at Large

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