All the King's horses and all the King's men: they couldn't put Syria back together again

Published July 19th, 2012 - 09:50 GMT

It started with just a few lone pilots in Jordan but last night's bombing in the capital, Damascus, looked like the nail in the coffin for the Assad regime. As one after another of his closest men are either killed or defect, who does Assad have left?

So far the president has responded by quickly announcing replacements for the fallen and beginning indiscriminate shelling in the capital. If it looks like desperation, it probably is. Now FSA activists are warning Assad that a fate worse than Gadaffi is in store for him.

Along the way we have seen senior military personnel, government envoys and TV reporters all go the way of the FSA. Here we take you through all the big names, from childhood friends to secret service officials, each have seriously undermined Assad's position as president.

Not forgetting the hundreds of thousands of ordinary refugees flooding into neighboring Turkey and Jordan, bringing with them stories of the atrocities committed by government forces and pro-Assad thugs.

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The first in a long line: almost a month ago the first regime pilot flew his plane into Jordan and asked for asylum. The Syrian government said it was an accident but Jordanian intelligence didn't agree. Syria-watchers began to wonder - was this the beginning of the end?

Refugees smuggled into Turkey and Jordan

What followed was a stream of pilots and low level military personnel headed to either Turkey or Jordan. What started as a trickle began to speed up alongside the thousands of refugees smuggled over the borders. They brought with stories of atrocities in Deraa and Homs.

And it wasn't just government officials: two weeks ago TV personality, Ghatan Sleiba, fled to Turkey and revealed to the Guardian that he had been working as a double agent for the FSA for months, using his position on Dunya TV to aid the rebels.

The first big name to go: Manaf Tiass was a childhood friend of the president and senior member of the Syrian army but in early July he decided enough was enough and took his family to Paris. A serious blow for the Assad regime.

Five days ago we had the first senior diplomat defect: Nawaf Fares was Assad's envoy to Iraq and a ex-loyalist but in his YouTube video he called on Syrian soldiers to follow his lead and turn their guns on the Damascus regime.

The biggest loss so far: The Damascus bomb yesterday hit defense minister and ex-chief of staff, Gen. Daoud Rajiha and his deputy, Assef Shawkat, Assad's brother in law. Although Assad quickly announced their official replacements it might be harder to find a replacement husband for his sister.

Damascus bombing kills head of Crisis Management Group

Oh the irony: Yesterday's bombing also hit Gen Hassan Turkomani, assistant to the vice president and head of the Crisis Management Group. Clearly he had not been managing the crisis in Damascus as effectively as he'd hoped.

Overnight another two Syrian generals fled, bringing the total number of generals sheltering in Turkey to 20. What began as just a few isolated defections, looks like a spectacular coup d'etat.

Will he? Won't he? Rustom Ghazaleh is rumored to be on the verge of defecting after several of his family members did. The ex-head of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon is as close to Assad as it gets - will he decide the president's fate?

The first in a long line: almost a month ago the first regime pilot flew his plane into Jordan and asked for asylum. The Syrian government said it was an accident but Jordanian intelligence didn't agree. Syria-watchers began to wonder - was this the beginning of the end?

What followed was a stream of pilots and low level military personnel headed to either Turkey or Jordan. What started as a trickle began to speed up alongside the thousands of refugees smuggled over the borders. They brought with stories of atrocities in Deraa and Homs.

And it wasn't just government officials: two weeks ago TV personality, Ghatan Sleiba, fled to Turkey and revealed to the Guardian that he had been working as a double agent for the FSA for months, using his position on Dunya TV to aid the rebels.

The first big name to go: Manaf Tiass was a childhood friend of the president and senior member of the Syrian army but in early July he decided enough was enough and took his family to Paris. A serious blow for the Assad regime.

Five days ago we had the first senior diplomat defect: Nawaf Fares was Assad's envoy to Iraq and a ex-loyalist but in his YouTube video he called on Syrian soldiers to follow his lead and turn their guns on the Damascus regime.

The biggest loss so far: The Damascus bomb yesterday hit defense minister and ex-chief of staff, Gen. Daoud Rajiha and his deputy, Assef Shawkat, Assad's brother in law. Although Assad quickly announced their official replacements it might be harder to find a replacement husband for his sister.

Oh the irony: Yesterday's bombing also hit Gen Hassan Turkomani, assistant to the vice president and head of the Crisis Management Group. Clearly he had not been managing the crisis in Damascus as effectively as he'd hoped.

Overnight another two Syrian generals fled, bringing the total number of generals sheltering in Turkey to 20. What began as just a few isolated defections, looks like a spectacular coup d'etat.

Will he? Won't he? Rustom Ghazaleh is rumored to be on the verge of defecting after several of his family members did. The ex-head of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon is as close to Assad as it gets - will he decide the president's fate?

Tags:Damascus FSA Bashar Al Assad

All the King's horses and all the King's men: they couldn't put Syria back together again

The first in a long line: almost a month ago the first regime pilot flew his plane into Jordan and asked for asylum. The Syrian government said it was an accident but Jordanian intelligence didn't agree. Syria-watchers began to wonder - was this the beginning of the end?

What followed was a stream of pilots and low level military personnel headed to either Turkey or Jordan. What started as a trickle began to speed up alongside the thousands of refugees smuggled over the borders. They brought with stories of atrocities in Deraa and Homs.

And it wasn't just government officials: two weeks ago TV personality, Ghatan Sleiba, fled to Turkey and revealed to the Guardian that he had been working as a double agent for the FSA for months, using his position on Dunya TV to aid the rebels.

The first big name to go: Manaf Tiass was a childhood friend of the president and senior member of the Syrian army but in early July he decided enough was enough and took his family to Paris. A serious blow for the Assad regime.

Five days ago we had the first senior diplomat defect: Nawaf Fares was Assad's envoy to Iraq and a ex-loyalist but in his YouTube video he called on Syrian soldiers to follow his lead and turn their guns on the Damascus regime.

The biggest loss so far: The Damascus bomb yesterday hit defense minister and ex-chief of staff, Gen. Daoud Rajiha and his deputy, Assef Shawkat, Assad's brother in law. Although Assad quickly announced their official replacements it might be harder to find a replacement husband for his sister.

Oh the irony: Yesterday's bombing also hit Gen Hassan Turkomani, assistant to the vice president and head of the Crisis Management Group. Clearly he had not been managing the crisis in Damascus as effectively as he'd hoped.

Overnight another two Syrian generals fled, bringing the total number of generals sheltering in Turkey to 20. What began as just a few isolated defections, looks like a spectacular coup d'etat.

Will he? Won't he? Rustom Ghazaleh is rumored to be on the verge of defecting after several of his family members did. The ex-head of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon is as close to Assad as it gets - will he decide the president's fate?

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