Defector: Only force can stop Assad

Syria’s highest ranking diplomat to defect to the opposition has dismissed the main international plan seeking to stop the violence, saying nothing short of President Bashar Assad’s departure is acceptable.

Nawaf Fares, formerly Syria’s ambassador to Iraq, told the Al-Jazeera satellite channel that only force can remove Mr Assad.

Mr Fares announced that he was joining the anti-Assad revolution in a video yesterday.

He was the second high-level regime official to quit in one week. The other, Brigadier General Manaf Tlass, has not spoken publicly and does not appear to have joined the rebels.

Despite rising international condemnation, Mr Assad’s regime has largely held together. The defections of Mr Fares and Gen Tlass have raised hopes among opposition leaders that others will quit the regime too.