In brief: Syrian diplomat defects to Turkey

Istanbul – The Syrian ambassador to Iraq has defected and is on his way to Turkey, the most senior diplomat to abandon President Bashar Assad during the 16-month-old uprising, a Syrian opposition figure said Wednesday.

Nawaf Fares, a former provincial governor, would be the second prominent Syrian to break with the regime in less than a week. Brig. Gen. Manaf Tlass, an Assad confidant and son of a former defense minister, fled Syria last week, buoying Western powers and anti-regime activists, who expressed hope that other high-ranking defections would follow.

Appointed to the Baghdad post four years ago, Fares was the first Syrian ambassador to Iraq in 26 years. Like Tlass, he is a member of the privileged Sunni elite in a regime dominated by Assad’s minority Alawite sect.

Drug gangs killings drop 42 percent

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico – Killings by criminal gangs in the drug violence-wracked border city of Ciudad Juarez fell by 42 percent in the first six months of this year from the same period of 2011, Mexico’s army said Wednesday.

Gen. Emilio Zarate, the local army commander, attributed the drop to the weakening of the local Juarez drug cartel and the rival Gente Nueva gang, which is allied with the powerful Sinaloa cartel. The two cartels have fought turf battles since 2008 that notoriously made this city the most violent in Mexico.

Ciudad Juarez recorded 952 killings by gangs in the first half of the year, compared to 1,642 in the first half of 2011, according to Zarate, who said the gangs have been diminished by a multipronged offensive that includes army patrols, police reforms and social programs.