JORDAN: Assad's rule disintegrating,Prime Minister Ryad Hijab says after defecting

Record ID: 281328

  • Title: JORDAN: Assad's rule disintegrating,Prime Minister Ryad Hijab says after defecting
  • Date: 14th August 2012
  • Summary: AMMAN, JORDAN (AUGUST 14, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CAMERAS JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FORMER SYRIAN PRIME MINISTER RYAD HIJAB, SAYING: "Therefore, and considering what was said, I announced my defection and resignation as head of the government of the Republic of Syria. I was not fired as claimed by the regime, but I left willingly, while on duty. I left Damascus o
  • Embargoed: 29th August 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jordan
  • Country: Jordan
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEK8XGHHFWSR820ABHEUQ1GTL9
  • Story Text: Former Syrian Prime Minister Ryad Hijab on Tuesday (August 14) made his first public appearance since defecting to Jordan earlier this month, saying the Damascus regime is collapsing.
    Speaking during a news conference in the Jordanian capital, Hijab said he was not fired, but voluntarily left his post to protest against the on-going killings across Syria.
    "I was not fired as claimed by the regime, but I left willingly, while on duty. I left Damascus on Sunday, August 5, 2012 and the intention was to gain God's blessings and to be fair to the people and show gratitude for the blood of martyrs and tears of tragedy for our stricken people," he said.
    Hijab called for unity within the free Syria army and invited members of the regular army to follow their Egyptian and Tunisian counterparts who helped topple the leaders of both north African countries.
    "I call on the free men of the Syria national army to emulate their brothers in the Egyptian and Tunisian armies by standing beside the people. I am reminding you of your oath when you were enlisted in the army. Why will you point your guns? To protect your people or to kill them. I am certain you will side by your people, preserve your holy places, its soil and blood of its people," he said.
    Hijab claimed that the Syrian regime now only controls 30 percent of Syria.
    "I assure you, through my experience and the position I used to fill, that the regime is collapsing psychologically, financially, economically with cracks in its military power. It is only in control of 30 percent of Syrian land," he concluded, before leaving without taking questions.
    Hijab did not explain his estimate of the territory still controlled by Assad, whose military outnumbers and outguns the rebels fighting to overthrow him. The army is battling to regain control of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city, after retaking parts of Damascus that were seized by insurgents last month.
    Curbs on media access make it hard to know how much of Syria is in rebel hands, but most towns and cities along the country's backbone, a highway running from Aleppo in the north to Deraa in the south, have been swept up in the violence.
    Assad has also lost swathes of land on Syria's northern and eastern border.
    While the military focuses on Damascus and the business hub of Aleppo, rebels have slowly made gains in Syria's tribal heartland to the east, where a ferocious fight is under way for Deir al-Zor, capital of the country's main oil-producing region.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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