Syrian PM defects to opposition

Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab has defected from President Bashar al-Assad's government and joined the opposition, his spokesman said on Monday.

Syria's former agriculture minister Riyad Hijab is seen in this file handout photograph distributed by Syrian News Agency (SANA) on June 6, 2012. Syrian Prime Minister Hijab has been sacked, Syrian television reported on August 6, 2012. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appointed Hijab, a former agriculture minister, as prime minister in June following a parliamentary election in May which authorities said was a step towards political reform but which opponents dismissed as a sham. [Photo/Agencies]

"I announce today my defection from the killing and terrorist regime and I announce that I have joined the ranks of the freedom and dignity revolution. I announce that I am from today a soldier in this blessed revolution," Hijab said in a statement read in his name by the spokesman on Al Jazeera television.

Syrian state TV said Hijab had been fired, but an official source in Amman said he had defected to neighboring Jordan.

The spokesman, Mohamed Atari, said Hijab was in a safe place with his extended family. His defection had been organized with the Free Syrian Army, the rebel force fighting against Assad's rule.

Jordan's information minister denies that the Syrian prime minister has defected to the neighboring kingdom and another government official says the premier will be leaving Amman soon for another country.

The second official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said Monday the defector Riad Hijab would be heading out of the Jordanian capital to Qatar or Turkey. Earlier, the same official confirmed Hijab had defected from Syria and was in Jordan along with his family.

Hijab is to leave Jordan for Qatar within days, following the example of other high-profile defectors, his spokesman Mohammad Otri told AFP.

"Hijab will go to Doha, where international media are based. He will leave for Qatar tomorrow, the day after or after a few days," Otri told AFP in the Jordanian capital.

A member of the Syrian opposition in Jordan said Hijab will travel to Qatar "in the coming few hours".

"We are currently coordinating to facilitate the departure of Hijab to Doha in the coming few hours. Seven of his brothers will stay in Jordan," he said, saying he had helped Hijab defect.

"We understand the sensitivity of this issue for Jordan. We do not want to create problems for the kingdom, which already has tense relations with the Syrian regime," he said, on condition of anonymity.