The defection of Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab showed that President Bashar al-Assad's regime was crumbling from within, the White House said Monday, DPA reported.
"That the titular head of the Syrian government has rejected the ongoing slaughter being carried out at Assad's direction only reinforces that the Assad regime is crumbling from within, and that the Syrian people believe that Assad's days are numbered," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
The growing number of high-level defections within al-Assad's inner circle pointed to his diminishing power and inevitable ouster, he said. "The momentum is with the opposition and with the Syrian people."
"It's clear that these defections are reaching the highest levels of the Syrian government, and Assad cannot restore his control over the country because the Syrian people will not allow it."