French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius confirmed on Friday a Syrian general who was close to President Bashar al-Assad had defected and was bound for Paris.

Manaf Tlas, a brigade commander in Syria's Republican Guard who went to military college with Assad, fled to Turkey this week, sources told Reuters.

"I can confirm that he has defected and is on his way to France," Fabius told a meeting of world leaders and Syrian rebels in Paris.