Halki, born in 1964, is from the southern province of Deraa where the uprising against  Assad’s  rule erupted, replacing caretaker premier Omar Ghalawanji who was appointed hours after Hijab’s defection.

Like Hijab, Halki who belongs to Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority defected on Monday after only two month in office. Hijab fled to Jordan with his family.

The White House said the defection of Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab shows that President Bashar al Assad’s government is “crumbling from within.”

Moreover, several Syrian diplomats have defected from Assad’s government in the recent weeks, including the ambassador to Iraq, the ambassador to UAE, the charge d’affaires in the UK where his first posting was in Greece as consul from 2003 to 2008, and the charge d’affaires in Cyprus.

The latest development came as battle raged between regime forces and armed rebels in the northern city of Aleppo. The rebel Free Syrian Army on Thursday pulled out completely from the embattled district of Salaheddin, in the northern city of Aleppo, a rebel commander said.

“We have staged a tactical withdrawal from Salaheddin. The district is completely empty of rebel fighters. Regime forces are now advancing into Salaheddin,” said Hossam Abu Mohammed, a Free Syrian Army (FSA) commander, according to AFP. 

“The fighters are withdrawing to Sukari district, where they are preparing a counter-attack,” he told AFP by telephone.

Day two of the most significant ground attack in Aleppo came as Syria’s key regional ally Iran prepared to host a meeting aimed at finding ways to end the ongoing conflict.

Syrian troops and rebels have sent reinforcements to the intensifying battle in the city of Aleppo.

Clashes raged on Wednesday in Aleppo’s central al-Jamaliya neighbourhood, near the local headquarters of the ruling Baath party. In Kalasseh in the south of the city, rebels set a police station ablaze, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, according to Al Jazeera.

According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights government forces attacked rebel positions in the capital Damascus, the city of Aleppo and areas of Homs province on Wednesday as more than 160 people were killed.

The United Nations peacekeeping chief announced on Wednesday that half of the 300 UN observers in Syria have left the country, while adding that the crisis there remains “of utmost concern” and the world body will continue to promote a political solution.

As the violence increases, high-level defections from Assad’s regime are growing. Arab media reported Wednesday that the Syrian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Abd Allaltif Dabaj, has defected to the opposition. The ambassador to the UAE joined his wife, the Syrian Ambassador to Cyprus, Lamyaa Hariri, who defected on Tuesday, both traveling to Qatar.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s United Nations envoy said on Wednesday that the Arab League will direct their concerns on the crisis in Syria to the U.N. General Assembly. 



“The Arab states have decided to head to the General Assembly over the situation in Syria,” the U.N. envoy said at the United Nations. 

Saudi Arabia is proposing a U.N. General Assembly resolution which will reportedly highlight a Syrian government threat to use chemical weapons.

The US, France, Germany, Britain have also said they will seek action against the Syrian government outside the council.