Ex-Official Urges End to Syria Regime

PARIS — A former vice president of Syria in exile called for the overthrow of the regime, saying that “a shameless mafia” is running the country and that its president surrounds himself with sycophantic advisors and is unfit to rule.

Abdel-Halim Khaddam, whom Syria now accuses of treason, stopped just short of accusing President Bashar Assad of involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Khaddam said in an interview that Hariri was “threatened in a crystal-clear way on numerous occasions” before his death in a truck bombing last year -- including by Assad.

Khaddam was for many years Syria’s top official in Lebanon and was a member of the ruling Baath Party’s regional command, its most influential body, for almost 30 years.

He represents an old guard long seen as wary of Assad, who became president after the 2000 death of his father and predecessor, Hafez Assad.

The Feb. 14 bombing in Beirut that killed Hariri, which is being investigated by a U.N.-appointed commission, killed 22 other people and was the catalyst for mass protests against Syria and greater international pressure that ultimately led Syria to withdraw its army from Lebanon.

Khaddam met later Friday in Paris with U.N. investigators.