Damascus, July 12 (ANI): The Syrian ambassador to Iraq has reportedly defected, becoming the most senior diplomat to abandon the President Bashar al-Assad regime during a bloody 16-month uprising.

According to Khaled Khoja, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council, the ambassador, Nawaf Fares, is heading to Turkey, and will seek asylum there.

It's certain. He has defected. He declared his defection, Fox News quoted Khoja, who is based in Istanbul, as saying.

According to the report, if confirmed, it would be the second major defection to hit the Assad regime in less than a week.

Meanwhile, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the U.S. had no confirmation of the defection of Syria's ambassador to Iraq.

But he added that other recent high-level defections from the Assad regime were a welcome development.

That is an indication of the fact that support for Assad is crumbling, Carney said. (ANI)