Syria VP appears in public, ending defection rumors
Farouk al-Sharaa makes first public appearance since mid July effectively proving Jordan defection rumors wrong
Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa has made his first public appearance in several weeks, ending rumors that he defected.
Al-Sharaa was last seen at the funeral of four top Syrian government officials who were killed in a blast in Damascus on July 18.
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Since then, speculation has circulated that he defected to Jordan in what would have been a blow to Bashar Assad's regime.
Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa
On Saturday, the Al-Arabiya news network reported that al-Sharaa fled to Jordan. Both Amman and al-Sharaa's office denied the report.
On Sunday, reporters saw Al-Sharaa exit his car and walk to his office for a meeting with Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of Iran's powerful parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy.
An Associated Press reporter at the scene said Al-Sharaa looked serious and steered away from reporters covering the meeting. He did not make a statement.
Recent weeks have been riddled with reports of Syrian officials of all levels defecting to Turkey, Jordan and other Arab countries.
The UN said Friday that since the revolt against Assad began over 18,000 were killed and 200,000 have fled the country.
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