Syrian official defects to protest Assad crackdown

Syrian official defects to protest Assad crackdown

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s deputy oil minister announced his defection in an online video that emerged today, making him the highest ranking official to abandon President Bashar Assad’s regime since the country’s uprising erupted a year ago. The defection of Abdo Husameddine, who said he was joining the opposition because of the “brutal” crackdown on dissent that has claimed the lives of thousands of Syrians, came as the U.N.’s humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said she was “struck” by the devastation she saw in a shattered district of the central city of Homs.