From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article's
factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information.
Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (October 2013 )
During the rule of the al-Assad family and the Syrian Civil War , a number of prominent Syrian figures have defected to either the rebellion or to other countries:
During Hafez al-Assad rule [ edit ] During Bashar al-Assad rule [ edit ] Bassim Al Khaled/ بسيم الخالد first lieutenant , defected in June 2011Mohammad Bassam Imadi , Former Ambassador to Sweden – 2011Abdul Razzaq Tlass , former Syrian police first lieutenant , defected in June 2011, one of the founders of the Khalid ibn al-Walid Brigade in August 2011, and founder and commander of the Farouq Brigades , October 2011–October 2012Riad al-Asaad , former colonel in the Syrian Air Force ,[ 2] Free Syrian Army ,[ 3] Mustafa Al-Sheikh , former General in the Secret Police force , and former head of the Free Syrian Army – 6 January 2012[ 4] [ 5] Imad Ghalioun , parliamentarian for Homs - January 2012 (to Egypt )[ 6] Abdo Hussameddin , Deputy Oil Minister – 7 March 2012Firas Tlass , son of Mustafa Tlass, the former defence minister under Hafez al Assad – 12 March 2012 (to Paris )[ 7] Hassan Hamada , Syrian Air Force Colonel – 2012 (to Jordan )Fares Bayoush , Syrian Air Force lieutenant colonel – July 2012[ 8] Manaf Tlass , Brigadier General of the Syrian Republican Guard – 2012 (to Turkey , later Paris )Nawaf al-Fares , Ambassador to Iraq – 2012 (In Iraq , later moved to Qatar )[ 9] Adnan Silu , Major General and former head of Syria's chemical weapons program – July 2012 defected to the opposition.[ 10] Abdelatif al-Dabbagh , Ambassador to the UAE , July 2012 (to Qatar )[ 11] Lamia al-Hariri , niece of Syrian vice president Farouk al-Sharaa , Envoy to Cyprus , – July 2012 (to Qatar )[ 12] Mohammad Tahseen Faqir , military attaché at the Syrian embassy in Oman – July 2012[ 13] Ikhlas al-Badawi , Aleppo MP , a Ba'athist and an Assad loyalist, defected to Turkey with her six children – July 2012[ 14] [ 15] Farouk Taha , Ambassador to Belarus . Fled to Belarus in the spring, but did not publicize his defection before late July.[ 16] Khaled al-Ayoubi , Chargé d'affaires at the embassy to the United Kingdom and most senior diplomat in the country after higher officials were expelled. – July 2012.[ 17] Mohammad Hussam Hafez , Consul at the Syrian embassy in Yerevan , Armenia – July 2012.[ 18] General Muhammed Faris , a military aviator who became the first Syrian in space , defects to Turkey.[ 19]
Riyad Farid Hijab – Syrian Prime minister , August 2012.[ 20] Mohammad al Jililati – Finance Minister, reported to have been arrested while trying to defect.[ 21] Danny al-Baaj – Syria's representative at the United Nations Human Rights Council , defects to Geneva, 11 July 2012[ 22] [ 23] Brigadier General Ibrahim al-Jabawi – deputy police commander for the central Syrian province of Homs, 12 July 2012 (to Jordan )[ 24]
Salim Idris – was a general in the Syrian Police Force when he defected in July 2012 [1] [2] . Now serves as the current Chief of Staff of the Free Syrian Army .Yaroub al-Shara – cousin of Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Shara .[ 25] Naser al-Hariri – Former member of the People's Council of Syria from Daraa , 23 August 2012 (to Jordan )[ 26] Mohamed Moussa al-Khairat – Commander of the seventh division within the Syrian Police Force , 25 August 2012 (to Jordan ) [3] [4] Muhammad Khayr al-Hariri – Former Syrian MP and tribal chief of the southern Daraa region, 27 August (to Jordan ) [5] Abdullah Al-Omar – Director of several pro-government Syrian Channels, September 2012 [6] [7] .Mohammad Fares – a Syrian Pilot [8] .Awad Ahmed al-Ali – head of the security branch in Damascus, September 2012 (to Turkey ) [9] [10] Emad al-Ahmar – Syrian Consul in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia 8 September 2012 (to Egypt ) [11] [12] .Mahmoud Obeid – Syrian diplomatic attaché in Malaysia , 8 September 2012 (to Egypt ) [13] [14] .Bashar al-Haj – Syrian diplomatic attaché in Serbia , September 2012 (?) [15] [16] .Youssef Assad – Syrian Air Force officer and a family relative of President Bashar Assad [17] .Khaled Abdul Rahman al Zamel – a Syrian colonel who initially defected to join the opposition forces, and in late September 2012 called on to abandon the insurgency against President Bashar al-Assad (accompanied by around 10 other former rebels) [18] .Jihad Makdissi – Syrian Forgein Ministry's spokesman, 2 December 2012 (to UK ) [19] [20] .Adnan Salo – former head of the chemical weapons unit in the Syrian army [21] , 9 December 2012Major General Abdulaziz al-Shalal – commander of Syria's Military Police, 25 December 2012 [22] [23] .
Kamal Jamal Beyk – Former director of programming at the official SANA radio and the SANA online news website in Damascus, 28 December 2012 (to Paris )[24] .Lama Al-Khadra – Former state-run radio station Radio Damascus Journalist , 28 December 2012 (to Paris ) [25] Baddour Abdel Karim – former state-run radio station Radio Damascus Journalist , 28 December 2012 (to Paris ) [26] Maj. Gen Mohammed Ezz al-Din Khalouf – chief of supplies and logistics of Syrian Armed Police Forces , 16 March 2013 (to Jordan ).[ 27]
Sayf Balud – former First Lieutenant in the Syrian Army [ 28] Anwar Raslan - former Syrian colonel who led a unit of Syria's General Intelligence Directorate . Fled to Jordan then sought Asylum in Germany, where in January 2022, he was convicted of crimes against humanity in a German Higher Regional Court .[ 29]
^ "IDF – Israel Defense Forces" . Archived from the original on October 11, 2017. Retrieved July 29, 2012 .^ "Syria on brink of sectarian civil war, West says" . Reuters . 31 May 2012. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2017 .^ "U.N. veto called 'green light' for Assad" . Archived from the original on 2011-12-07. Retrieved 2012-08-08 .^ "ynet החבר, הגנרל, הטייס ורה"מ. כולם בורחים מאסד – חדשות" . Archived from the original on August 10, 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2012 .^ Blomfield, Adrian (6 January 2012). "Damascus bomb kills 25 as regime suffers high level defection – Telegraph" . The Daily Telegraph . London. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2012 . ^ "Syrian defector speaks of devastation; slams Arab League mission - CNN" . 17 January 2012. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012 .^ "AFP: Syrian former defence minister Tlass in France: opposition" . Archived from the original on January 24, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2012 .^ "LIWA FURSAN'S MODERATE SYRIAN FIELD COMMANDER LT. COLONEL FARES AL-BAYOUSH" . Jamestown . 29 February 2016. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2017 .^ "BBC News – Syrian crisis: Assessing defector Nawaf Fares' claims" . 17 July 2012. Archived from the original on 26 July 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012 .^ Blomfield, Adrian (16 July 2012). "Residents flee Damascus as Syrian capital sees heaviest fighting so far in country's 'civil war' – Telegraph" . The Daily Telegraph . London. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012 . ^ "BBC News – Syria's Turkish border units 'head for Aleppo' . 25 July 2012. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012 .^ "BBC News – Syria's Turkish border units 'head for Aleppo' . 25 July 2012. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012 .^ "Defected Syrian general Manaf Tlas says seeks to unite opposition – Israel News" . Haaretz Daily Newspaper . Archived from the original on July 28, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012 .^ "Syrian parliamentarian defects to Turkey" . The Guardian . London. 27 July 2012. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved July 29, 2012 .^ "Clashes continue as Syrian MP defects" . Al Bawaba . Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012 .^ "Syrian Ambassador in Belarus confirmed the transition to the opposition" . Charter 97 . July 29, 2012. Archived from the original on August 3, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2012 .^ Spillius, Alex (30 July 2012). "Syrian Charge D'Affaires in London resigns" . The Telegraph . Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved July 31, 2012 . ^ "Adviser of Syrian embassy in Armenia untimely finished his mission" . Armenpress . 31 July 2012. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved August 1, 2012 .^ "Syria's first astronaut defects to Turkey: report" . ArabNews . Archived from the original on August 5, 2012. Retrieved August 5, 2012 .^ "Syria Prime Minister Riad Hijab defects" . BBC News . 6 August 2012. Archived from the original on 27 May 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018 .^ "BBC News – Syria Prime Minister Riad Hijab defects" . 6 August 2012. Archived from the original on 7 August 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2012 .^ "Syria's UN human rights envoy defects in Geneva – ArabNews" . Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012 .^ "נענע10 – סוריה: דיפלומט בכיר ערק, המורדים חטפו 4 עיתונאים – חדשות" . Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2012 .^ "Senior Syrian policeman defects: opposition – Reuters" . 12 August 2012. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012 .^ "Arabiya says cousin of Syria VP defects, not VP" . Archived from the original on 2012-08-16. Retrieved 2012-08-16 .^ "סוריה משתפת פעולה בעניין הנשק הכימי" . 2012-08-23. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2012-08-24 .^ "Associated Press News" . bigstory.ap.org . Archived from the original on 2015-01-03. Retrieved 2015-01-04 .^ "Hamza Division: a new military formation to fight ISIL" . El-Dorar . 23 April 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2020 .^ Cornish, Chloe; Solomon, Erika (23 April 2020). "High-profile Syrian war crimes trial begins in Germany. Intelligence official charged with overseeing 4,000 counts of torture and 58 murders" Financial Times . Retrieved 2021-01-03 .
