Syrian PM sacked amid reports of defection

Riyad Hijab is sworn in as new Syrian Prime Minister by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (R) in Damascus in this handout file photograph distributed by Syrian News Agency (SANA) June 26, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

DAMASCUS - Syrian prime minister Riyad Farid Hijab was sacked Monday of his post with no official explanation, according to the state TV, as Arab TVs said the prime minister has defected to Jordan.

Syria's state TV said that Hijab was sacked of his post, adding that his deputy, Omar Ghalawanji, has been appointed as the head of the caretaker government.

No official comments were provided about the reasons of the sacking, but Arab TV channels said that Hijab has defected to Jordan with the help of the rebel Free Syrian Army.

The Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV said the rebels have been for long planning the prime minister's defection and his safe evacuation from Syria.

Still, such reports couldn't be independently checked, but if true, the defection marks the highest defection of the newly- elected government.

Hijab, who was also former agriculture minister, was tasked with forming the new government on June 6 and formed it on June 23.

The sacking decision came just hours after a bomb ripped through the state TV building in the capital Damascus.

The brazen attack has dealt a blow to the current regime in the very core, in an indication that the Western-backed opposition fighters and activists have become increasingly resourceful.

While this drags on, fighting has continued Monday in the northern Aleppo province and some areas of the capital Damascus as part of the death match between government troops and armed rebels.