Syria’s former prime minister Riad Hijab, who fled to Jordan after defecting almost two weeks ago, is now in Qatar, his spokesman said in Amman yesterday.

“Hijab went to Qatar on Thursday for a three-day visit during which he will address the media to spell out his plans and his programme,” spokesman Mohamed Otri told AFP.

He added that the former premier, who defected on August 5 after just two months in the post, would return to Jordan at the end of his Qatar visit.

Hijab was the latest in a string of high-level defections from President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which is becoming increasingly embattled as the 17-month conflict shows no signs of abating.

On Tuesday, he told media in Jordan that the Syrian regime was collapsing and has “cracked”.

“The Syrian regime only controls 30% of Syria’s territory. It has collapsed militarily, economically and morally,” Hijab said.

Hijab, who was agriculture minister until being appointed prime minister on June 6, also urged Syria’s security forces “not to point their guns at the Syrian people”.

The US lifted sanctions against Hijab and unfroze his assets following his defection in a move it said was aimed at convincing members of Assad’s inner circle that they have not been permanently blacklisted.

Hijab was replaced as prime minister by former health minister Wael al-Halqi.
Yesterday, Syrian forces pounded rebel hubs in the city of Aleppo and battled opposition fighters around Damascus, as the UN reported a surge in refugees.

Violence was also reported in other towns and villages across the country, with the bloodletting showing no signs of any let-up a day after the United Nations formally called time on its observer mission.

The army clashed with rebels near the main military airport in Damascus and shelled southern parts of the capital as well as areas of the commercial city of Aleppo and the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, opposition sources said..

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called for President Bashar al-Assad’s regime to be “smashed fast” as he visited Turkey’s largest refugee camp near the border.

More than 23,000 people have died since the revolt against Assad’s iron-fisted rule broke out, according to activists, while the UN puts the toll at around 17,000.

As the two sides become more entrenched in Syria, there are fears the conflict could spread further afield, after mass kidnappings in Lebanon in retaliation for events across the border. AFP

UN confirms new mediator on Syria

The UN yesterday confirmed that veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi will replace former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan as the international mediator on Syria as the 17-month-old conflict slides deeper into civil war.

“The secretary-general appreciates Brahimi’s willingness to bring his considerable talents and experience to this crucial task for which he will need, and rightly expects, the strong, clear and unified support of the international community, including the Security Council,” said UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey.