VIDEO: Former Syrian prime minister blasts Assad regime in live TV address
Defected Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab speaks during a news conference in Amman Aug. 14, 2012. Hijab referred to President Bashar al-Assad’s government as an “enemy of God.” (Photo by Majed Jaber/Reuters.)
Former Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab went on Jordanian TV to denounce the government of Bashar Assad and to say he thought the end of his rule was near..
Hijab spoke live and said he didn’t want to lead but would rather serve as a soldier in the rebels’ cause. He appealed for Syrian soldiers to put down their weapons and join the rebels.
“The regime is collapsing morally, financially, economically and the military is broken,” he said, through a translator.
Hugh Sykes, the BBC correspondent in Amman, Jordan, said the increasing division among Syrians and the power of the rebels in the southern part of that country have led to speculation that the country might split along a north-south line.
“That the south will eventually become an unofficial governate of northern Jordan,” Sykes said. “An awful lot of families live on both sides of the border.”
Hijab also, according to Sykes, made a point of insisting he wasn’t fired by Assad and chose to leave of his own volition.
“He said ‘I did not have the hands to stop the torture. I left in solidarity with the tears of the widows.’ But then, he didn’t pull his punches. He described the Assad regime as enemies of God,” Sykes said.
Sykes said he’s heard that the Syrian rebels will soon be getting better arms to fight with, as well.
They’re believed to be coming, via Jordan, from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. There’s easy transportation from Saudi Arabia to Syria.
“A lot of those roads are a long way out in the desert and an awful lot of military transport could take place with hardly anybody noticing it,” he said.