Syrian PM defects to opposition

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

"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.

Questions:

1. Who has Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab defection been organized with?

2. What did Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab call President Bashar al-Assad's government regime?

3. In Riah Hijab’s speech, what ranks did he say he had joined in the revolution?

Answers

1. The Free Syrian Army.

2. A killing and terrorist regime.

3. The ranks of the freedom and dignity revolution.

About the broadcaster:

Rosie Tuck is a copy editor at the China Daily website. She was born in New Zealand and graduated from Auckland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Communications studies majoring in journalism and television. In New Zealand she was working as a junior reporter for the New Zealand state broadcaster TVNZ. She is in Beijing on an Asia New Zealand Foundation grant, working as a journalist in the English news department at the China Daily website.