The most prominent Syrian politician to defect to the opposition has said President Bashar al-Assad will use chemical weapons against opposition forces and may have already deployed them.
Nawaf Fares insisted that the president's days were numbered but warned he would be prepared "to eradicate the entire Syrian people" to remain in power.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Fares said: "I am convinced that if Bashar al-Assad's regime is further cornered by the people, he would use such weapons."
"There is information, unconfirmed information, that chemical weapons have been used in Homs," the former ambassador to Iraq added.
Mr Fares said it was now "inevitable" that Mr Assad would be ousted from power.
"It is absolutely sure that this government will fall in a short time," he said from his refuge in Qatar.
"We wish for this time to be short so that more sacrifices are reduced."
Mr Fares, who announced his defection on 11 July, was widely seen as a regime hardliner and his decision to break ranks has triggered suspicion among activists.
Some dissidents say Mr Fares has been likely groomed by the West to play a role in a transitional government, while others have spoken about his "criminal" past.
Meanwhile, French President Francois Hollande said a Syrian general and one-time friend of Mr Assad who fled Damascus this month is in France.
General Manaf Tlas, a member of Syria's Sunni Muslim majority, had been reported to be in Paris with his family, but has yet to speak publicly since defecting.
The general's father, Mustapha, defence minister under Mr Assad's father for 30 years, lives in the French capital, as does his sister, the widow of a wealthy Saudi arms dealer.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on 12 July that Paris was aware that General Tlas was in talks with the Syrian opposition about a possible role in efforts to oust President Assad.
Syrian rebels battled government forces backed by air power and artillery in the fiercest fighting to hit Damascus since the revolt against Mr Assad erupted more than 16 months ago.
The United Nations Security Council is due to vote tomorrow on a Western-backed resolution that threatens Syrian authorities with sanctions if they do not stop using heavy weapons in towns, but Russia has said it will block the move.
Mr Hollande said that if Russia wanted to restore order in Syria and avoid chaos and civil war, it needed to support a political transition without President Assad.
"We will continue to apply pressure because it is not acceptable that every day there are massacres that are plunging not only Syria but the entire region into instability," he said.
