Syrian activists say nine state judges and prosecutors have defected to the opposition.
Gunmen killed the brother of Syria's parliament speaker as he drove to work in Damascus on Tuesday, the state-run news agency reported, as the international envoy for Syria warned the country could become another Somalia.
The Syrian government on Saturday welcomed the naming of a former Algerian diplomat as the U.N.'s new point-man in efforts to halt the country's escalating civil war. Activists reported more shelling by regime troops, including an air attack on a northern border town where scores died earlier this week.
The Syrian prime minister who defected to the opposition said Tuesday that President Bashar Assad's regime was near collapse and urged other political and military leaders to tip the scales and join the rebel side.
The Syrian prime minister who defected said Tuesday that Bashar Assad's regime is near collapse and urged other leaders to tip the scales and join the rebel side.
Iran, the strongest ally of embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad, hosted a gathering of countries for talks on how to end the civil war in Syria, as clashes between government troops and rebels raged Thursday in opposition bastions of besieged Aleppo.
Syria's prime minister completed his defection by crossing into Jordan at dawn Wednesday after two days of hiding inside his homeland, according to Jordanian officials and a spokesman for the rebel Free Syrian Army.
Syria launched a ground assault Wednesday on rebel-held areas of the besieged city of Aleppo, the center of battles between government forces and opposition fighters for more than two weeks.
One of Syria's most prominent defectors has been touring regional powers to seek support for the uprising, but many in the opposition are deeply suspicious of the handsome former general, a longtime friend of President Bashar Assad with a taste for expensive cigars.
