A senior official in Syria’s Oil Ministry announced in a video message on Thursday that he was abandoning the regime of Bashar al-Assad, in what appeared to be the highest-level defection of a government official since the start of the violence in Syria.
Abdu Hussameldin, the deputy oil minister, condemned the Assad regime for violence against the Syrian people. “I declare I am joining the people’s revolution which will not and will never accept oppression and the brutality practiced by the regime,” he said. “I don’t want to end my career in the service of this regime’s crimes,” he added.
The video did not specify where or when it had been made, and Hussameldin has not be reached to verify its authenticity. British and American officials who now officially support the overthrow of the Assad regime played up the defection, arguing it was the start of the regime’s downfall. But many in Syria’s opposition claimed it was relatively unimportant.
“I don’t consider such a defection a strike for the regime,” Samir Nachar, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council, told the New York Times. Haytham Manna, a Syrian dissident based in Paris, said the defections of bureaucrats will not be what topples the regime. “The most important thing is the army,” he said.
Publicly, the Obama administration has retreated from its initial refusal to stay out of the conflict in Syria by agreeing this week to provide direct humanitarian and communications assistance to the Syrian opposition. While the official line remains to keep military options off the table for now, the change in policy could open the flood gates for expanded military intervention. Many in Congress have openly pushed for bombing Syria to collapse the Assad regime.
According to confidential emails from the private intelligence firm Stratfor that were released by WikiLeaks, Western forces have been inside Syria for months performing covert reconnaissance work. No U.S. official has commented on these revelations, but they coincide with information revealed by Antiwar.com columnist and former CIA officer Philip Giraldi as far back as December 2011.
"We reject any dialogue while tanks shell our towns, snipers shoot our women and children and many areas are cut off from the world by the regime without electricity, communications or water," said Hadi Abdullah, contacted in the city of Homs.
Another activist told Reuters Annan's call for dialogue sounded "like a wink at Bashar" that would only encourage Assad to "crush the revolution”.
Many people are talking about Syrian revolution, but if they can prove that there is revolution is another story. Revolution is when things are changed for better for the people coexistence, these people from Libya and now in Syria have nothing that present or whatever it is they present is even close to a prospect of a revolution, a religious uprising orchestrated by Saudis, UAE, US and NATO, a new turmoil organized by France, England and Israel yes but revolution…? Look revolution is about the people, not an Islamic sect nor is about a Kingdom family, revolution is about democracy not a hypocrisy. If you want democracy to start working in Syria with you in it, then you and those who feed you need to talk about democracy and stop manipulating peoples mind that you are a revolutionary, because you are not. Terrorist organization yes, and there are many of you living in Europe feed by Saudis and UAE waiting to be replaced when times are changed, so don't fool yourself and the young's who think that they are doing something good for Syria and Syrian people.
You've got a cheek, claiming credit for that. As we have pointed out over and over, Sibel Edmonds had been writing about it for months. Still it's idle to expect the truth from AntiWar.com, which is just a party organ like any other.
So someone else makes a video resignation and then high tails it to the so-called "opposition"? Wonder how long before his new buddies find some reason to kill him like their revolutionary clones in Libya did to other flip flopping flunkies.
Syria doesnt have an oil ministry. There is a Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. Its minister is Sufian Allaw.This guy seems to have been just a low level adviser having previously worked for Royal dutch shell:
2009/03/12: "Other nomination by Ottri was for consultant Abdu Husameddin who named as general manager of oil refinery company."
http://www.syria-oil.com/en/?p=319
I read somewhere that this defector got out ahead of the police who wanted to arrest him for embezzlement. However, I should point out that when he defected, he announced that the police would accuse him of embezzlement – just how did he know what they would want him for?