ther countries have condemned the use of violence against the protesters. China and Russia have avoided condemning the government or applying sanctions under the pretext of seeking to avoid foreign intervention, although China has — unlike Russia — sought to engage with the Syrian opposition. The Arab League suspended Syria's membership over the government's response to the crisis, and sent an observer mission as part of its proposal for peaceful resolution of the crisis. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation also subsequently suspended Syria's membership. To escape the violence, over 130,000 Syrian nationals have fled the country to the neighboring countries of Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Turkey.
In late June 2012 high-ranking military and political personnel, such as Manaf Tlas and Nawaf al-Fares started joining the defection waves. Nawaf al-Fares stated in a video that his defection was in response to crimes against humanity that Assad had been committing.
On 21 August 2012, the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil said the Syrian government is prepared to discuss the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad
