AMMAN — Syrian activists say nine state judges and prosecutors have defected to the opposition. The Britain-based Observatory for Human Rights says the latest defectors from the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad come from the northern city of Adlib. In video statement, posted online Sunday, the nine judges identified themselves by name as one of them read a joint statement and urges others to break ranks with Assad. Many government officials and army officers have abandoned the regime to join the opposition since the uprising started in March 2011. Ex-prime minister Riad Hijab is the most senior Syrian official to defect so far. The uprising has now escalated into a civil war with several rebel commanders now joining forces under a united command. Meanwhile, Germany's foreign intelligence chief said the Assad regime won't survive. “But it's impossible to say how long it will hang on,” Gerhard Schindler, head of the Federal Intelligence Service, said. The official was as quoted as telling the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper: “Signs are increasing that the regime in Damascus is in its final phase.” — Agencies
