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28 March 2024

Cousin of Syria VP defects, not VP: Report

Syrian refugees rest at the Syrian side of Bab Al-Salam crossing border as they wait to cross to one of the refugee camps in Turkey, in the town of Azaz on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria. Thousands of Syrians who have been displaced by the country's civil are struggling to find safe shelter while shelling and airstrikes by government forces continue (AP)

Published
By Reuters

A cousin of Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Shara has defected, Al-Arabiya television reported on Thursday, broadcasting a statement in which he called on members of the Syrian army to join the "revolution".

 "The cousin of the Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Shara announces his defection in an exclusive recording via Al-Arabiya," the news anchor read after the broadcast. It identified the speaker as Yarab al-Shara.

 During the broadcast Al Arabiya had scrolled a headline bar declaring that "Shara" had defected.

Syria president's brother lost leg in attack

The brother of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad lost one leg in an attack on the country's security cabinet in Damascus in July, a Western diplomat and a Gulf-based source said on Thursday.

 "We heard that he (Maher al-Assad) lost one of his legs during the explosion, but don't know anymore," the diplomat told Reuters.

 A Gulf source confirmed the report: "He lost one of his legs. The news is true."