Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 6 / Trend A.Taghiyeva /
Three ministers of Assad government fled to Jordan together with former prime minister of Syria Riyad Farid Hijab who announced his defection to the opposition, Al Arabiya channel reported.
At the same time, the channel disclosed neither the names of ministers, nor the ministries they headed.
On Monday, August 6, Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Farid Hijab announced his defection to the opposition just two months after his appointment to this post. Hijab with his family members and another 10 families from his nearest milieu fled to Jordan.
Deputy Prime Minister Omar Ghalawanji, has been appointed caretaker prime minister.
Earlier the ambassadors of Syria in Iraq, Cyprus, Belarus and the UAE and a number of senior military officials announced the defection to the opposition.
Anti-government protests have continued in Syria for about 17 months.
According to UN, the total number of victims of the conflict in Syria has exceeded 17,000 people. About 230,000 people became refugees. About three million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. The Syrian authorities say that they oppose the well-armed militants.