GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Earlier reports that Syrian Ambassador to Iraq, Nawaf Fares, had defected from the government to join the Syrian opposition have been confirmed. He is the highest level switch to date, a week after a general from a family close to President Bashar al-Assad crossed to the opposition. The foreign ministry promptly reacted by firing Fares from his job. He also left the ruling Baath Party and has urged other government figures to do the same. The BBC reports that “Fares, significantly, is also chief of a Sunni tribe straddling Syria’s eastern border with Iraq.”
Syria’s ambassador to Iraq joins opposition
July 12, 2012 by
