AMMAN, Jordan — The Syrian prime minister who defected said Tuesday that Bashar Assad’s regime was near collapse and urged other leaders to tip the scales and join the rebel side. The U.N. said an estimated 2.5 million Syrians have been injured, displaced or face problems securing food or other necessities, a sharp rise from about 1 million three months ago.
It was the first public statement by Riad Hijab since he left his post and fled to Jordan with his family last week. Hijab is the highest-ranking political figure to defect from Assad’s regime.
“The regime is on the verge of collapse morally and economically in addition to cracks in the military,” Hijab told a news conference in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
Hijab is a Sunni Muslim from the eastern province of Deir el-Zour where rebels claimed to have shot down a regime MiG-23 warplane on Monday. Hijab, who was not part of Assad’s inner circle, said the trip to Jordan lasted three days during which he was protected by rebels of the Free Syrian Army.
He said he felt “pain in his soul” over the regime’s shelling and other attacks on rebel strongholds as the government stepped up its military offensive. Activists say more than 20,000 people been killed in the struggle since March 2011.
“I was powerless to stop the injustice,” Hijab said, speaking in front of the rebel flag. He called on “honorable leaders” in Syria to defect as well.
“Syria is full of honorable officials and military leaders who are waiting for the chance to join the revolution,” he said, adding that Assad’s forces only control 30 percent of Syria.
“I urge the army to follow the example of Egypt’s and Tunisia’s armies — take the side of the people,” he added.
Hijab said he was now backing the rebels, but gave no clue on his plans. There had been speculation that he would travel to the Gulf nation of Qatar, which is one of the rebels’ main supporters.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 45 people, including 29 civilians, were killed in Tuesday throughout Syria while the Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, said 50 people lost their lives. The Observatory said six members of the same family, including two children, were killed when troops shelled the eastern village of Shumaita.
In Geneva, the U.N. said that its humanitarian chief has begun talks in Syria on a mission to boost international aid inside the war-battered country. Valerie Amos was to meet with Syria’s foreign ministry and the Red Crescent, which has been the pipeline for humanitarian supplies to Syrians caught in the civil war.
Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva, said Amos is on a three-day visit to the region.
She said the U.N. now estimates that more than 2 million Syrians have been injured, displaced or facing problems securing food or other necessities. Also, more than 200,000 refugees have fled to neighboring countries including Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.
“We have a situation where there is an ongoing humanitarian crisis,” Amos said in Damascus after meeting National Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar. “Three months ago, we thought that there were about a million people who were in need of assistance. We’re now having to revise that number to about 2.5 million,” she added.
It was the first public statement by Riad Hijab since he left his post and fled to Jordan with his family last week. Hijab is the highest-ranking political figure to defect from Assad’s regime.
“The regime is on the verge of collapse morally and economically in addition to cracks in the military,” Hijab told a news conference in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
Hijab is a Sunni Muslim from the eastern province of Deir el-Zour where rebels claimed to have shot down a regime MiG-23 warplane on Monday. Hijab, who was not part of Assad’s inner circle, said the trip to Jordan lasted three days during which he was protected by rebels of the Free Syrian Army.
He said he felt “pain in his soul” over the regime’s shelling and other attacks on rebel strongholds as the government stepped up its military offensive. Activists say more than 20,000 people been killed in the struggle since March 2011.
“I was powerless to stop the injustice,” Hijab said, speaking in front of the rebel flag. He called on “honorable leaders” in Syria to defect as well.
“Syria is full of honorable officials and military leaders who are waiting for the chance to join the revolution,” he said, adding that Assad’s forces only control 30 percent of Syria.
“I urge the army to follow the example of Egypt’s and Tunisia’s armies — take the side of the people,” he added.
Hijab said he was now backing the rebels, but gave no clue on his plans. There had been speculation that he would travel to the Gulf nation of Qatar, which is one of the rebels’ main supporters.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 45 people, including 29 civilians, were killed in Tuesday throughout Syria while the Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, said 50 people lost their lives. The Observatory said six members of the same family, including two children, were killed when troops shelled the eastern village of Shumaita.
In Geneva, the U.N. said that its humanitarian chief has begun talks in Syria on a mission to boost international aid inside the war-battered country. Valerie Amos was to meet with Syria’s foreign ministry and the Red Crescent, which has been the pipeline for humanitarian supplies to Syrians caught in the civil war.
Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva, said Amos is on a three-day visit to the region.
She said the U.N. now estimates that more than 2 million Syrians have been injured, displaced or facing problems securing food or other necessities. Also, more than 200,000 refugees have fled to neighboring countries including Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.
“We have a situation where there is an ongoing humanitarian crisis,” Amos said in Damascus after meeting National Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar. “Three months ago, we thought that there were about a million people who were in need of assistance. We’re now having to revise that number to about 2.5 million,” she added.