Syria ex-Minister Says Shara 'Under House Arrest'

A former Syrian minister who defected last year said Saturday that it was "well-known" that Vice President Faruq al-Shara had tried to leave and was under house arrest.

The comments by former deputy oil minister Abdo Hussameddin came after the regime in Damascus denied opposition claims that Shara, the most senior Sunni Muslim official in President Bashar Assad's Alawite-led regime, had defected.

"Shara's position is well known. He has been trying to leave Syria," he told pan-Arab television al-Arabiya.

"But there are a series of circumstances that prevent him from leaving, especially the fact that he has been under house arrest for some time," he said, adding that top level officials in Syria were being kept under surveillance.

Hussameddin himself defected in March, one of a string of defections that has included former prime minister Riad Hijab and high profile General Manaf Tlass -- a childhood friend of Assad.