AMMAN, Jordan — The Syrian prime minister who defected said Tuesday that Bashar Assad's regime was near collapse and urged other leaders to tip the scales and join the rebel side. The U.N. said an estimated 2.5 million Syrians have been injured, displaced or face problems securing food or other necessities, a sharp rise from about 1 million three months ago.

It was the first public statement by Riad Hijab since he left his post and fled to Jordan with his family last week. Hijab is the highest-ranking political figure to defect from Assad's regime.

"The regime is on the verge of collapse morally and economically in addition to cracks in the military," Hijab told a news conference in the Jordanian capital, Amman.