Deputy oil minister leaves Assad and sides with the rebels
Beirut (AsiaNews) - The Syrian Deputy Minister of Petroleum has announced his resignation, declaring that he wants to join the resistance against Assad. Hussameddin Abdo, 58, yesterday announced his defection with a video posted on YouTube. Hussameddin had been appointed to the post of deputy minister by Assad in 2009 and is the most senior person to have deserted the government and the Ba'ath Party. An activist who filmed and posted the video on You Tube told AFP that the opposition helped Hussameddin to make the step. So far however there has been no independent confirmation of the video.
In the film, the former deputy minister appears calm as he reads a statement. In it he says: "I join the revolution of the people who reject injustice and the brutal campaign of the regime ... I tell the regime, which claims to own the country, you have nothing but the footprint of the tank driven by your barbarism to kill innocent people."
The announcement of Hussameddin emerges within hours of Valerie Amos' visit to Homs. The head of the UN humanitarian agency has described a town "devastated" after Syrian shelling, which lasted nearly a month.
Hussameddin claims to have served the Syrian government for 33 years and did not want to end his life "serving a criminal regime." He adds: "This is why I joined the right path, knowing that this regime will burn and destroy my house, my family and build a castle of lies".
The former deputy minister also advised his colleagues to abandon "this sinking ship." He also denounces Russia and China for the support they give to the regime, accusing them of not being "friends of the Syrian people, but collaborators in killing the Syrian people."
The news of Hussameddin's resignation spread few hours after U.S. Defense Secretary, Leo Panetta said he was studying the possibility of distributing "nonlethal" aid Syrian rebels, opening the first direct line of U.S. aid to the anti-Assad group.
Yesterday, Russia - which along with China had some blocked UN resolutions against Assad - has accused Libya of providing a venue and of training Syrians rebels.
Today even Beijing has asked Assad to stop the violence against the population and support the distribution of aid by humanitarian organizations like the Red Cross. Yesterday, the Minister of Commerce, Chen Deming, announced plans to evacuate all the Chinese who work in Syria. Commentators point out that this decision does not represent a change of policy in support of Assad, but only an act of prevention to avoid what happened about a year ago in Libya, where over 36 thousand Chinese were trapped in country battered by civil war. (PD)
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