Former Vice President Khaddam, never a favorite character of mine, quoted Assad as having threatened Rafik Hariri before his assassination and now the Syrian government wants to try him for treason. Welcome, everyone, to another episode of “The Bold and the Syrian.”

DAMASCUS (AFX) – The Syrian government will try on high treason charges former vice president Abdel Halim Khaddam, who has accused Damascus of involvement in the murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, and investigate him for corruption.

The announcement came after Khaddam’s explosive allegations that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had threatened Hariri before his death, which he made in an interview Friday on Al-Arabiya television.

‘The Council of Ministers will take the necessary measures to try Khaddam for high treason, and to open an inquiry into corruption in a series of matters which will include seizing his assets,’ the official daily newspaper Ath-Thawra said.

The newspaper said the government announcement meant it would follow up on demands made by loyalist MPs, who called for Khaddam to be tried for treason and corruption.

Syria’s ruling Baath party said Sunday it had expelled the ex-vice president for comments it described as ‘slander which violates the principles of the nation’.

Khaddam, long the architect of Syria’s military and political domination of neighbouring Lebanon, accused Assad of threatening Hariri just months before his murder, dealing a fresh blow to the increasingly pressured Syrian regime.

‘I will destroy anyone who tries to hinder our decisions,’ Khaddam quoted Assad as telling Hariri during a meeting in Damascus.

The statements have prompted the commission investigating the murder of Rafik Hariri to request an interview with President Assad and his foreign minister. Remember that the UNSC has called on Syria to cooperate fully with the commission without delay, no matter what they want, so it will be interesting to see if the government actually gives in and Bashar submits himself to an interview.

I see this through the prism of an already crumbling Baath regime. Fact is, you don’t see many high-level defections like this, and the enormous backlash by the rubberstamp parliament is a sign of fear. The Baath is no longer as strong and in line as it used to be, and the blows following the Cedar Revolution are continuing to pound it to pieces. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more people near the top getting out of there while the gettings good.