The government of the embattled country of Syria may have lost another fixture in the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. According to CNN, it is unclear whether Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa remains in his position or if the second-in-command has fled his post because of violence and political pressure.
If al-Sharaa did defect, it would mark the highest-level departure from President Bashar al-Assad's regime yet.
The news comes amid a stream of resignations by Syrian officials in recent weeks, including Republican Guard Brig. Gen. Manaf Tlas and Prime Minister Riyad Hijab. Like al-Sharaa, the men are Sunnis who held top posts in a government dominated by the country's Alawite minority …
"His defection, if confirmed, is significant in that it represents yet another high-level official (in fact, the highest civilian official) who sees that the Assad regime is a sinking ship. I think this indicates that the regime is collapsing very quickly. I expect to see additional defections in both the military and civilian sectors in the coming days," said Rafif Jouejati, English language spokeswoman for the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, the opposition network.
Read more at CNN.