Defections Rattle Syrian Regime

The World
The World

Syria’s Prime Minister Riyad Hijab has confirmed his defection from the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Rime Allaf, a Middle East associate with the London-based think tank Chatham House, says the defection is not a major blow to the regime’s survival, but is nonetheless another embarrassment for Syria’s government.

“Today is really a big blow in the sense that it will not make the regime crumble, but it is absolutely humiliating for the regime to have its own prime minister defecting,” Rime says, adding, “Bashar Assad and his allies cannot know anymore on whom they can count.”

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