Syria's ambassadors to the UAE and Cyprus, who are husband and wife, have defected to Qatar, an opposition spokesman said.
"Abdul Latif Dabaj, the Syrian ambassador to the UAE, defected as yesterday, Syria's envoy to Cyprus Lamia al-Hariri, Dabaj's wife, defected. Both are in Qatar now," a spokesman for the Syrian National Council told Al Jazeera news.
It is worth mentioning that Lamia Hariri is the niece of Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa.
Many Syrian ambassadors have abandoned Assad regime, including the Syria's ambassadors to Iraq and Belarus.
Meanwhile, the Israeli foreign minister warned Wednesday that the the Israeli army would intervene immediately if Lebanese Hezbollah fighters seized the Syrian chemical or biological weapons. Speaking to Israel Radio, Avigdor LiebermanAvigdor Lieberman stressed that "for us is a casus belli, a red line."
According to specialists of defense issues, Damascus holds nerve gas, mustard gas (attacking skin and mucous membranes), Scud missiles capable of projecting these deadly gases, and advanced conventional weapons, including the latest types of portable missile launchers and rocket launchers.
On the other hand, Russian Foreign Ministry has told Syrian ambassador Riyad Haddad that it is unacceptable to threaten to use chemical weapons, TASS news reported.
In the meantime, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has urged world leaders to act to stop the "slaughter" in Syria, as thousands of regime forces with tanks and armoured vehicles were redeploying to retake the city of Aleppo from the Free Syrian Army fighters.
The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights reported that 1,261 people have been killed since the fighting intensified in Damascus on July 15, which would have made last week by far the bloodiest in the Syrian uprising so far.
Sources: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/N ews.aspx/158234
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/20 12/07/25/228301.html
