Syria’s deputy oil minister has announced he is resigning from his post and aligning himself with the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. Abdo Husameddine is the highest-ranking Syrian official to defect in the year-long uprising against Assad to date. In a video statement, Husameddine said he had served for 33 years in various government posts, but that he is now leaving the regime and “joining the dignified people’s revolution.”