Syria’s top diplomat to Britain defects

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Syria’s top diplomat to Britain defected on Monday, according to the British Foreign Office, striking a blow against the beleaguered government of President Bashar al-Assad as tens of thousands fled heavy fighting in Aleppo, the most populous city in the country and its commercial capital.

Khaled al-Ayoubi, the charge d’affaires at the Syrian embassy in London, is only the latest in a string of recent defections that has included Manaf Tlass, a senior military figure and personal friend of Assad, as well as the former ambassador to Iraq Nawaf Fares, the charge d’affaires in Cyprus and the ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.

“Mr. al-Ayoubi has told us that he is no longer willing to represent a regime that has committed such violent and oppressive acts against its own people, and is therefore unable to continue in his position,” the Foreign Office said in a statement. “We urge others around Bashar Al-Assad to follow Mr. al-Ayoubi’s example.”

Ayoubi was the top ranking Syrian diplomat in London following Syria’s withdrawal of its ambassador and Britain’s expulsion of the acting head of the embassy.

The defection was a symbolic setback, but the Syrian government is trying to project an image of strength as it ramps up its offensive in Aleppo, sending more than 200,000 people scrambling for safety since this weekend, according to a statement from United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos. Many more people could still be trapped by fighting inside the city, Amos said.

The Syrian government sent a clear message on Sunday that it doesn’t want any outside interference as it continues the crackdown when the army attacked the convoy of the new head of the U.N. observer team, Lt. Gen. Babacar Gaye, while on a trip outside Damascus. “Yesterday the convoy of General Gaye was attacked by army tanks,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters in New York. “Fortunately there were no injuries.”

Gaye visited Rastan and Homs on Sunday, where he witnessed the fighting and infrastructure damage first-hand and even met with members of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) to discuss the possibility of political dialogue.

Col. Qassem Saad Eddine, the spokesperson of the Free Syrian Army Joint Command who met with Gaye, posted a video statement online Sunday describing the FSA’s plans for a political transition after Assad. The plan calls for power sharing between leaders of the FSA and the civilian opposition and describes the creation of a number of political and military councils that would oversee the drafting of a new constitution and elections.

The Syrian military continued its assault in Aleppo Monday with planes bombing residential areas and helicopters firing rockets at rebel positions, according to the Local Coordination Committees (LCC), an activist network. One of the hardest hit neighborhoods was Salahuddin, where fierce street fighting broke out between rebels and government soldiers, according to opposition groups. A video circulated by the LCC showed bodies of young men lying in pools of blood allegedly inside a building in Salahuddin.

Both sides claimed to be making progress in their battle to control the city on Monday but it was impossible to confirm either claim. The rebels did appear to take control of a government military base outside Aleppo after an hours-long battle overnight, CNN reported, which gave them access to some heavier weapons.

Life is becoming increasingly grim for those left behind in Aleppo. Residents fleeing heavy fighting in some neighborhoods have taken shelter on the campus of Aleppo University; some are even sleeping in parks or inside their cars. Prices for basic goods like fuel and bread have spiked and there are electricity and water cuts throughout the day, residents said.

“Who cuts the water in Ramadan?” asked a 20-year old man from Aleppo in a chat on MSN Messenger, referring to the Muslim holy month. “People are fasting! This is sinful.”

Another young man in Aleppo said he went to get his passport renewed on Sunday and was told that the head of the office had been kidnapped. “The situation escalated here before I managed to leave the country,” the young man, 24, said in a chat also on MSN Messenger.

The Syrian army also continued to shell a handful of neighborhoods in Damascus on Monday, according to opposition groups, only a day after Foreign Minister Walid Moallem claimed rebels had been defeated in the capital.

At least 90 people were killed in fighting across the country on Monday, including 26 people in Damascus and 25 in Aleppo, according to the LCC.

The Syrian government took another diplomatic hit on Monday as the embassy in Australia was closed, according to ABC Australian television.

Washington post

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20 responses to “Syria’s top diplomat to Britain defects”

  1. rossoferrari Avatar
    rossoferrari

    It is only  rumors!!!! The syrian regime is denying that these defections are taking place. corty will attest to that.

    1. 73Corty77 Avatar
      73Corty77

      No rossoferrari, I am going to believe all the western media tells me. By the way how did Aleppo go for the FSA, not well I heard. I heard on the news 100’s of the FSA have died. It absolutely made my day  Mr Assad is going no where. That you can take to the bank.

  2. rossoferrari Avatar
    rossoferrari

    It is only  rumors!!!! The syrian regime is denying that these defections are taking place. corty will attest to that.

    1. 73Corty77 Avatar
      73Corty77

      No rossoferrari, I am going to believe all the western media tells me. By the way how did Aleppo go for the FSA, not well I heard. I heard on the news 100’s of the FSA have died. It absolutely made my day  Mr Assad is going no where. That you can take to the bank.

      1. rossoferrari Avatar
        rossoferrari

         You are despicable, how can you say that killing humans made your day, you are a coward.To make your day, may be you should join ass assad fighters and may be you will get a taste of what is it like, however talk is cheap.

        1. 73Corty77 Avatar
          73Corty77

          You have mistaken what I said. I never said seeing humans dying makes my day. I said the Free Syria Ass Holes dying made my day. You see rossoferrari I don’t consider anybody who invades a country for money to be a human. So those animals who died in Aleppo deserve it. Just wish I was there to piss on them. The future for the rest of those animals doesn’t look so good does it.

      2. rossoferrari Avatar
        rossoferrari

         Yes I will;  to the broken and bankrupt bank of ass assad: Nil, nada, zippo, and zero assets. I take it you have no brains for you to be taking such position, a loser one at his last gasp.

      3. rossoferrari Avatar
        rossoferrari

        corty, sorry for calling the FSA invaders, they are syrians men, where do you get your stories. Where was the leadership of the syrian government to allow so many INVADERS to enter the country. I am sorry to say that you are acting as an ostrich, hiding your head in the sand and do not want to face reality and as such you will be pissing on yourself.

        1. Patience2 Avatar
          Patience2

           Remember, ‘corty’ “speaks-for-ass-ad”, also “farts-thru-mouth for ass-ad”.

  3. wargame1 Avatar
    wargame1

    These fat ass diplomat defection has no use on the ground compare to a Army solders defect with guns and some RPG which can be used to destroy some tanks of Assad thugs. Assad at the moment is fighting to survive. The  butcher doesnt need to revitalize its own ugly image as it is exposed badly. 

    After few months the defection will increase and the cities will fall one after another inshallah; These fat ass couch potatoes may defect to save their ass and possibly never would go back in Syria in order to avoid public beating.These are useless scums eating up the public fund.  The Syrian resistance do not need “The charge d’affaires” at the moment rather they need to charge the IED and RPG in Allawite Thug affairs.

  4. wargame1 Avatar
    wargame1

    These fat ass diplomat defection has no use on the ground compare to a Army solders defect with guns and some RPG which can be used to destroy some tanks of Assad thugs. Assad at the moment is fighting to survive. The  butcher doesnt need to revitalize its own ugly image as it is exposed badly. 

    After few months the defection will increase and the cities will fall one after another inshallah; These fat ass couch potatoes may defect to save their ass and possibly never would go back in Syria in order to avoid public beating.These are useless scums eating up the public fund.  The Syrian resistance do not need “The charge d’affaires” at the moment rather they need to charge the IED and RPG in Allawite Thug affairs.

  5. wargame1 Avatar
    wargame1

    These fat ass diplomat defection has no use on the ground compare to a Army solders defect with guns and some RPG which can be used to destroy some tanks of Assad thugs. Assad at the moment is fighting to survive. The  butcher doesnt need to revitalize its own ugly image as it is exposed badly. 

    After few months the defection will increase and the cities will fall one after another inshallah; These fat ass couch potatoes may defect to save their ass and possibly never would go back in Syria in order to avoid public beating.These are useless scums eating up the public fund.   

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