An Attempted High Level Syrian Defection Prevented by al-Assad

Earlier on Saturday, French TV networks were reporting that Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa had defected and was trying to make his way out of the country to Jordan with the help of the Free Syria Army. UN reporters were also suggesting that al-Sharaa may be in the process of defecting from the al-Assad regime.
But, later on Saturday, the Syrian State TV network reported that the Vice President was in Damascus and never had had the intention to “leave the homeland in whatever direction.” However, the story was not accompanied by photos or video showing al-Sharaa present in Damascus on Saturday. The TV report also did not use the word “defect”, which some take as an indication that perhaps al-Sharaa meant to defect but was stopped enroute or before he could even begin an attempt.
The Free Syria Army, for its part, in effect largely corroborated the official Syrian version of the situation in reporting that there had been an attempted defection but that it had failed.
The Free Syria Army said that al-Sharaa had left Damascus a week ago to go to Daraa where his family lives, and which is close to the Jordanian border, to check that his family was safe. The FSA added that it believes that the increased regime bombing of the Daraa province was an attempt to assassinate al-Sharaa. The FSA also thought that the al-Asaad regime might have been holding some of al-Sharaa’s family to insure that he returned to Damascus.
Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa is a sunni member of the al-Assad Alawite-led government and a confidant of Assad. He had served under al-Assad’s father as foreign minister and was for many years head of al-Assad’s diplomacy system before becoming vice president in 2006. Al-Sharaa is considered to be more important than the new prime minister, appointed after the defection of his predecessor just last month, because of al-Sharaa’s long and loyal service to the al-Assad family.
During recent Arab League meetings, al-Sharaa was considered as a successor to al-Assad under a variation of the Annan transition plan, similar to the one in Yemen, where the president left office and the vice president assumed office.
This possible defection was perhaps unintentionally leaked by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Thursday when he announced that there would be another “spectacular” defection from the al-Assad regime’s inner circle, which has suffered multiple defections recently, many from the military leadership.
A former al-Assad petroleum minister, Adbul Houssameddine, who defected in March, is quoted by French news as reporting that al-Sharaa had intended to defect, but that for the past several days he has been at home “under surveillance.”
Syrian state TV took la-Sharaa’s official photo off its website on Saturday, and announced that he had been talking to all side in an effort to end the bloodshed. Syrian state TV emphasized a statement of Al-Sharaa supporting the appointment of the Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi, as the UN replacement for Kofi Annan as special envoy to Syria.
Al-Sharaa is considered to be a stern figure who has only recently become concerned about the civil war as it becomes more sectarian and his sunni majority is being massacred.
But, some opposition leaders are now saying that even if al-Sharaa tried to defect, it may be too little too late to save him from being bundled with al-Assad partisans when the war ends.
In any event, dear readers, if al-Sharaa is now under surveillance, we may expect that he will not be around when the war ends, compliments of the security forces of al-Assad, which tolerate no defectors or anyone who may have doubts about the Alawite cause.