An international meeting in support of Syria's opposition has been boosted by the defection of a key military figure and friend of President Assad, reports Sky News.
Manaf Tlas, a brigade commander in Syria's Republican Guard, is heading to Paris where the Friends of Syria group is meeting.
"I can confirm that he has defected and is on his way to France," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told the delegates.
The son of a former defence minister, Mr Tlas went to military college with Bashar al Assad and would be the highest ranking regime figure to join the 16-month uprising against the president's rule if he joins the opposition.
Mr Tlas's house in the capital was ransacked by security agents amid reports he had fled to Turkey earlier this week, a witness told Reuters.
"His defection is big news because it shows that the inner circle is disintegrating," an unnamed Western diplomat who knew Mr Tlas in Damascus told the news agency.
Read more of this report from Sky News.