AMMAN, Aug 5 (Reuters) - A senior Syrian intelligence
officer has defected to Jordan, Al Arabiya television reported
on Sunday.
It said Colonel Yarub Shara was head of the Damascus branch
of Political Security, an intelligence organisation responsible
for monitoring and suppressing dissent.
Jordanian officials were not immediately available to
comment on the report.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, fighting a 17-month-old
uprising against his rule, named his former intelligence chief
in Lebanon, Rustum Ghazaleh, to head Political Security last
month. It was part of a series of appointments following the
assassination of four members of his inner circle.
(Reporting by Dominic Evans; Editing by Pravin Char)