Syrian Prime Minister Defects from Assad Regime
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- Published on Monday, 06 August 2012 15:54
PNN
On Monday, 6th August, Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab has confirmed that he defected from the government of President Bashir al Assad and fled to Jordan.
Riad Hijab, who was sworn in as prime minister two months ago, is the highest-level official from Syria to leave the regime since the beginning of the uprising.
In a statement read on Al Jazeera by his spokesman Muhammad el-Etri, Hijab announced that he ”left the terrorist regime and decided to joined the ranks of the freedom and dignity revolution”. He also revealed that his defection had been planned with the Free Syrian Army for months.
Earlier Syrian State TV informed that Hijab had been sacked from his post. But Etri refuted this information, saying that the regime media reported Hijab’s dismissal only after they realized he had fled the country.
