Syria Regime Near Collapse, Says Defected PM

The Syrian Prime Minister who defected last week says Bashar al-Assad's regime is near collapse. The UN's humanitarian chief, meanwhile, now estimates that 2.5 million people in the country need help.

Published

9 months ago

Categories

World, Middle East & North Africa, Middle East

People

Bashar al-Assad, Valerie Amos, Glenn Shadbolt, Hassan Nasrallah, Riad Hijab

Places

Syria, Iraq, Damascus, Tafas

Transcript

The Syrian Prime Minister who defected last week says Bashar Assad's regime is near collapse. The UN's humanitarian chief, meanwhile, now estimates that 2.5 million people in the country need help. (Aug. 14) SHOTLIST: AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY Amman - 14 Aug 2012 1. Wide of Defected Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab walking toward table and sitting down 2. Riad Hijab, Defected Syrian Prime Minister, at news conference UPSOUND (Arabic) SYRIAN OBSERVATORY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS - AP CLIENTS ONLY ++THE OBSERVATORY IS A LONDON BASED ORGANISATION THAT IS NOT RECOGNISED IN NEWSGATHERING AND WHO DISTRIBUTE AMATEUR VIDEO FOOTAGE FROM VARIOUS ACTIVIST GROUP IN SYRIA++ Al Muhassan, Deir el-Zour province - 13 August 2012 3. Sky view above Al Muhassan in Deir el-Zour province as what activists say is a Syrian government plane comes into view and is shot down UPSOUND: (Arabic) "God is great. MiG warplane hit in Muhassan. God is great. There it is exploding." UGARIT NEWS - AMATEUR VIDEO - RELEASED BY A GROUP WHICH CALLS ITSELF UGARIT NEWS - AP CLIENTS ONLY ++PLEASE NOTE - THIS IS NOT A RECOGNISED NEWSGATHERING ORGANISATION++ +4:3+ Al Bukamel, Deir el-Zour province 4. Distance shot of explosion as it occurs on the other side of a field. Activists say it was an attack on a school in Al Bukamel village near the Syria/Iraq border around 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of Deir el-Zour city, UPSOUND: (Arabic) "God is great. The town is attacked by warplanes." SHAM NEWS NETWORK - AP CLIENTS ONLY ++SHAM NEWS NETWORK IS A LOOSELY ORGANISED ANTI-ASSAD GROUP BASED IN AND OUT OF SYRIA WHICH POSTS VIDEO AND STILL IMAGES OF ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTS ON THE INTERNET. THEY CLAIM THEY DO NOT HAVE ANY CONNECTION TO SYRIAN OPPOSITION PARTIES OR ANY OTHER STATES++ Unknown location - 13 Aug 2012 5. Alleged pilot of plane rebels claim they shot down, identifying himself as Colonel Rafik Mohammed Suleiman, surrounded by armed men UGARIT NEWS - AMATEUR VIDEO - RELEASED BY A GROUP WHICH CALLS ITSELF UGARIT NEWS - AP CLIENTS ONLY ++PLEASE NOTE - THIS IS NOT A RECOGNISED NEWSGATHERING ORGANISATION++ ++AP CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL++ ++AUDIO AND VIDEO QUALITY AS INCOMING++ Damascus - 13 Aug 2012 6. Man who says he is Hassane Salim al-Mikdad (arabic), surrounded by armed men 7. FREEZE FRAME of identity card 8. Man who says he is Hassane Salim al-Mikdad (Arabic) AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY Yayladagi - 14 Aug 2012 9. Close up of Syrian rebel flag in Yayladagi refugee camp No 2 10. Syrian woman laying cloth down outside her tent AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY Damascus - 14 Aug 2012 EDITOR'S NOTE: - THIS MATERIAL WAS SHOT BY AN AP TELEVISION CONTRACTOR WORKING WITHIN SYRIAN GOVERNMENT MEDIA GUIDELINES. 11. Valerie Amos, United Nations Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, meeting with Syria's Minister of National Reconciliation Ali Haidar 12. Mid of officials 13. SOUNDBITE (English) Valerie Amos, United Nations Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator: "Three months ago, we thought that there were about a million people who were in need of assistance. We're now having to revise that number to about 2.5 million." SHAM NEWS NETWORK - AP CLIENTS ONLY Tafas, Daraa Province 14. Wide of countryside around the southern town of Tafas with large grey smoke plume reaching into the sky UPSOUND (Arabic) "God is great. August 14. Shelling of Tafas town by Assad's brigades." SCRIPT Syria's prime minister, who fled the country and defected to the opposition last week, says Bashar Assad's regime controls only about a third of it. UPSOUND Riad Hijab said Assad's government is on the verge of collapse morally and economically. He urged other political and military leaders to tip the scales and join the rebel side. He added that he felt pain in his soul over the regime's stepped up military offensive. Hijab is a Sunni Muslim from the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, where rebels claim they shot down an army Mig-23 warplane on Monday. Syria had blamed the crash on a technical malfunction. In addition to pictures showing the plane going down and the smoking aftermath, amateur video also was released on the internet of armed men later holding the captured pilot, who had ejected. Another widely publicized video released by Syrian rebels, showed a captured man who said he was Lebanese, showing an identity card from the country. He claimed he and fellow fighters were urged by Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah to go to Syria and support the Shiite regime against Sunni gangs. Hezbollah denied that the man shown in the video was one of its members, and the video couldn't be independently confirmed. But it illustrated the rising sectarian divisions in Syria's vicious civil war. The conflict has prompted increasing flows of refugees out of the country. And inside Syria more and more people need help, too, according to UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos, on a visit to Damascus... SOT Amos appealed for an end to the fighting in Syria. But there seem to be no fresh indications that those involved are listening. (****END****) VIDEO PRODUCER/VOICER: Karen Sloan ------------------------------ VIDEO SOURCE: AP TELEVISION/ SYRIAN OBSERVATORY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS/ SHAM NEWS NETWORK/ UGARIT NEWS -------------------------- VIDEO APPROVAL: Glenn Shadbolt ------------------------------ VIDEO RESTRICTIONS: AP CLIENTS ONLY ---------------------------------- WIRE SOURCE: AP ------------------------------------