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Syria fires defected Ambassador to Iraq

July 12, 2012 05:15 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 05:11 am IST - BEIRUT

AP
In this 2008 photo, Nawaf Fares, left, takes charge as Syria's Ambassador to Iraq before Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, in Damascus. Mr Fares is the most senior diplomat to abandon the Assad regime since the uprising started 16 months ago. Photo: AP

In this 2008 photo, Nawaf Fares, left, takes charge as Syria's Ambassador to Iraq before Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, in Damascus. Mr Fares is the most senior diplomat to abandon the Assad regime since the uprising started 16 months ago. Photo: AP

Syria’s Foreign Ministry says it has fired the country’s Ambassador to Iraq, Nawaf Fares, after he defected to the opposition.

In a statement reported by Syria’s state news agency on Thursday, the ministry said Mr Fares had been “relieved of his duties” and should face “legal and disciplinary accountability.”

Mr Fares announced his defection in a video released on Wednesday, saying he was siding with “the revolution” against President Bashar Assad.

Activists say more than 17,000 people have been killed in the 16-month-old uprising.

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