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Former Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam al-Sabbagh has expressed shock by the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime after days of rebel offensives.

In an interview with Saudi-fundedÌýAl Arabiya, the former diplomat claimed that Assad had asked long-time allies Russia and Iran to save him when the operation to oust him began in late November.

Speaking to the outlet by phone from Damascus,ÌýSabbaghÌýsaid "he did not attend" Assad's most recent meetings with Russian and Iranian officials in the weeks and days leading up to his overthrow.

He said that he had offered Assad "an initiative to launch a political process" to resolve the situation, but that Assad did not respond.

On Sunday, a coalition of Syrian rebel groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) successfully overthrew Assad after a 12-day offensive.

Asked about the military strategy, Al-Sabbagh said he was surprised that Assad had fled the country and by the army's withdrawal from positions in Damascus.

Hours after the collapse of the 51-year Assad rule, the ousted president fled to Moscow and received asylum from Russia.

When asked when he found out that Assad had left the country, the former minister said: "Like all Syrians, we were surprised at dawn when phone calls began to circulate throughout the capital and we began to see people moving through the streets and the army abandoning its positions and his weapons," describing the rebel takeover of Damascus on 8 December as an "historic and watershed event for all Syrians".

While rebels took control of key cities such as Aleppo, Hama, Daraa and Homs, Sabbagh said the now-exiled leader appealed to Moscow and Tehran for intervention and rescue.

A new page written in Syrian history

Following the fall of the regime, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates in Syria announced on Sunday that its diplomatic missions would continue to serve Syrian citizens at home and abroad.

The ministry said in a statement: "Today a new page is being written in the history of Syria, to launch a covenant and a national charter that unites the word Syrians, unites them and does not divide them, in order to build a single homeland that prevails in justice and equality and in which everyone enjoys all rights and duties, away from the same opinion. Citizenship is the basis.�

Opposition group HTS have now named Mohammad al-Bashir as the interim prime minister to lead a Salvation Government during a transition phase until March.

Rescue workers and civilians continue their efforts to find missing relatives and friends still held in jails in Damascus, where tens of thousands of men, women and children, have been incarcerated since the 2011 uprising.