The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
December 27, 2012

Top Syrian General Defects to Opposition 
-----------------------------------------


 
A top Syrian general responsible for preventing military defections has
himself defected to Syria's opposition. Major General Abdul al-Shallal,
the head of Syria's military police, crossed into neighboring Turkey in
a daring break with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In a
statement to the news network Al Arabiya, Shallal accused the Syrian
military of turning on the people of Syria.

Maj. Gen. Abdul al-Shallal: "I am Major General Abdul Aziz Jassem
al-Shallal, chief of the military police in Syria. I declare my
defection from the regime's army because of its deviation of its
fundamental mission to protect the nation and its transformation into
gangs of killing and destruction."

Shallal's departure marks a key setback for the Assad regime, as he was
tasked with preventing defectors and with overseeing the imprisonment of
civilian dissidents.

 

.