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Syrian defectors
Newly arrived Syrian refugees, who fled the violence in their country, demonstrate at the border in Reyhanli, Turkey in March. (photo credit: AP)
June 15, 2013, 4:09 am
‘Over 70 Syrian officers, families cross border to Turkey’
Seven generals and 20 colonels said to be among defecting officials seeking refuge
The former head of Syria's military police Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Jassem al-Shallal announcing his defection to the rebels last December (photo credit: screen capture/Al-Arabiya)
December 26, 2012, 1:39 pm
Top Syrian general switches sides, says he has joined ‘the people’s revolution’
Rights group says government shelling in northern province killed 20, including 8 children and 3 women
Syria's former Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi (photo credit: AP/Bassem Tellawi)
From the WebDecember 26, 2012, 7:50 am
Senior Syrian official in US and co-operating with intelligence agencies
The Guardian reports that American intelligence officials helped government spokesman Jihad Makdissi defect a month ago
Syria's former Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi (photo credit: AP/Bassem Tellawi)
December 4, 2012, 3:02 pm
Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman reportedly flees country
Official may have been fired for making statements that diverged from Assad’s official line on the country’s chemical weapons stockpile
By Michal Shmulovich
Syrian children look through their car window as they cross into Lebanon with their families at the border crossing, in Masnaa, eastern Lebanon, on Friday. (photo credit: AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
December 1, 2012, 3:13 am
War rips apart families, neighbors in Syria
Brothers find themselves fighting on opposite sides of the bloody civil war
By Zeina Karam
An illustrative photo of a Turkish military station. (photo credit: AP)
November 9, 2012, 12:18 pm
Two Syrian generals defect to Turkey
Group of 71 people, including 11 colonels and families of the defectors, taken to refugee camp
Syrian President Bashar Assad in an interview on Syrian television in August (photo credit: image capture from YouTube, AntiQadseya002)
From the WebOctober 9, 2012, 6:52 am
Syria’s Assad ‘plans to escape to Russia’
Al-Jazeera: Former aide who defected says Assad has already worked out where to flee
From the WebSeptember 18, 2012, 7:13 pm
Assad’s sister defects amid ‘disputes’ between ruling Alawites
Al-Arabiya: Bushra Assad reportedly fled Syria with her children fearing attacks from her brother’s political opponents
A Syrian refugee drinks water at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, August 13, 2012 (photo credit: AP/Clemens Bilan)
August 29, 2012, 4:49 am
Secret Jordanian compound provides shelter for Syrian defectors
With more than 160,000 refugees in the kingdom already, Amman tries not to aggravate tensions with northern neighbor
By Dale Gavlak and Jamal Halaby
A Free Syria Army fighter waves from the top of a destroyed army tank in Syria, Monday, Aug. 6, 2012. (photo credit: AP)
August 23, 2012, 9:59 am
Syrian general among large number of defectors to Jordan, rebels say
More people flee Syria late Wednesday as fighting rages on
By TOI staff and AP
Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa (photo credit: screen capture, YouTube)
August 18, 2012, 10:11 am
Syria denies rebels’ claim that vice president has defected
In what would be the highest-ranking defection to date, FSA says Farouk al-Sharaa has fled to Jordan
By Michal Shmulovich
Defected Prime Minister Riad Hijab, center, before leaving Syria en route to Jordan in August (photo credit: AP/Shaam News Network)
August 14, 2012, 2:01 pm
Army must ‘side with the people,’ says Assad’s former PM, predicting regime’s imminent collapse
Riad Hijab, now in Jordan, urges other ‘honorable leaders’ to defect, says he was ‘powerless to stop the injustice’
Rebels in Aleppo last week. (photo credit: AP/Alberto Prieto)
August 9, 2012, 12:14 pm
Syrian palace official flees as battles rage in Aleppo
Chief of protocol latest high-level official to abandon Bashar Assad amid bloody civil war
By AP and TOI staff
Defected Prime Minister Riad Hijab, center, before leaving Syria en route to Jordan in August (photo credit: AP/Shaam News Network)
August 8, 2012, 6:46 pm
Syrian prime minister makes dawn defection into Jordan
Free Syrian Army deceived the news media into reporting that Riad Hijab had already crossed the border so that the Syrians would stop looking for him
Members of the Free Syrian Army celebrate after stopping a regime tank (photo credit: AP)
August 7, 2012, 12:16 pm
Syrian PM escape plan was brewing for months, says aide
Riad Hijab was told ‘become prime minister or die’
By Brian Murphy and Jamal Halaby
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