Syria’s deputy oil and mineral wealth minister has quit the Ba’athist regime headed by Bashar Assad, after slamming the ‘brutal’ military campaign the government is waging on civilians.
In a video statement on YouTube, Abdo Hussameddin said “I am joining the revolution of the people who reject injustice and the brutal campaign of the regime.”
Hussameddin’s statement – which includes reference to the Syrian economy being “near collapse” – is the first from a senior political figure in Assad’s government. Army units have been deserting the governement in previous months.
Syria’s oil industry has slumped after sanctions and attacks on a key oil pipeline. International oil companies have abandoned their operations. Refineries have been starved of crude, prompting fuel shortages. According to a report in the National, diesel shortages in Damascus have continued for months, and petrol shortages have now begun.
Oil is strategically vital to the Assad regime, providing over a quarter of government revenues into a slush fund controlled by the central figures in the regime with minimal oversight.
The UN estimates that 7,500 Syrians have been killed by the regime since the crackdown began, with 3,700 fatalities in Homs.
