Syria’s deputy oil minister resigned Thursday to join an anti-regime revolt, as UN-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan urged a path of diplomacy rather than militarisation to end the crisis in Syria.
On the ground, another four civilians were killed in violence across Syria Thursday, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which this week put the number of people killed since the uprising began a year ago at almost 8,500. Abdo Hussameddin announced his resignation in a video posted by activists on YouTube, saying he was joining the ranks of the rebels.
“I, the engineer Abdo Hussameddin, the deputy oil minister… announce my defection from the regime and my resignation,” he said in the video. “I am joining the revolution of the people who reject injustice and the brutal campaign of the regime, which is seeking to crush the people’s demand for freedom and dignity,” he added. The defection was quickly welcomed by Syrian opposition leader Burhan Ghalioun, who told AFP he expects more government officials and politicians to do the same.
“I hail the deputy (oil) minister who defected and I call on all government members and public servants … to abandon this regime and join the ranks of the revolution for freedom and dignity,” said Ghalioun, head of the Syrian National Council, the main opposition group. “I expect for sure that there are other government officials and politicians who will follow suit,” he added. Former UN chief Annan told reporters in Cairo he had urged “the Syrian opposition to come together to work with us to find a solution that will respect the aspirations of the Syrian people.”
He also warned against further militarisation of the crisis, amid a groundswell of international support for arming the rebels, mostly army defectors, making up the Free Syrian Army which is battling regime forces in a number of flashpoint areas. The child, a little girl, was killed by gunfire in the village of Khan Shaykhoun, in Idlib province in the northwest, where activists have reported a large-scale military build-up. Troops also shot dead a man in the province’s Jabal al-Zawiya hill district, the head of the Britain-based watchdog, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP. Two civilians died in clashes in the town of Al-Mayadin, in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, and another died in Daraya village, in Damascus province, Abdel Rahman said. He said security forces were also carrying out raids and arrests in Deir Ezzor city. In the flashpoint central province of Hama, a 44-year-old man was shot dead by a pro-regime militia in the village of Jarjara, Abdel Rahman added. In the capital, dozens of people were arrested after a funeral turned into an anti-regime demonstration.
“Security forces have arrested dozens of people in the Mezzeh district of Damascus, who attended the funeral of a young man killed recently,” the Observatory said. In the northern province of Aleppo, explosions hit two security force buildings in the town of Aazaz which was heavily bombarded by troops on Wednesday, the Observatory said.
The United States said Thursday it would contribute $2 million more in international humanitarian aid for strife-torn Syria, and urged Damascus to allow aid workers to access civilians in need. US deputy secretary of state for population, refugees and migration Kelly Clements announced the fresh funds at an aid coordination meeting in Geneva on Syria, where a brutal crackdown by the ruling regime has taken more than 7,500 lives. The money will go towards providing emergency medical care, as well as the delivery of water, food, blankets, heaters, and hygiene kits to Syrian civilians. “Safe access to affected areas, in order to identify the greatest needs and deliver needed assistance, is still not permitted by the Syrian regime,” said Clements, according to a statement issued by the US embassy to the United Nations. “All parties to the conflict have the responsibility to grant and secure this access,” she said.
