Damascus:  Syria's charge d'affairs in Cyprus, Lamia Hariri, has defected from the regime, a high-level source told AFP on Wednesday.

But the source said there was no confirmation that Hariri's husband and former ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Abdul Latif Al Dabbagh, had also defected.

"It is true that Lamia Hariri (has defected) but it is not yet (confirmed) that her husband has," the source said on condition of anonymity.

In Doha, Al Jazeera television said on Wednesday that Dabbagh had also defected, but it did not say where he was.

Hariri's defection comes after Nawaf Fares, Syria's ambassador to Iraq, left for Qatar this month after publicly renouncing his post.