Syria's prime minister is fired

SYRIA'S state-run TV says the country's prime minister has been fired less than two months after taking up his post.

Riad Hijab is a former agriculture minister and a loyalist in President Bashar Assad's ruling Baath party.

He was appointed as prime minister on June 23. The TV reports did not immediately give a reason why Hijab was dismissed from his post. It says Omar Ghalawanji, Hijab's deputy prime minister, was named as a temporary replacement.

A Jordanian government official has said Hijab has defected to Jordan with his family.

The announcement came hours after a bomb attack ripped through the third floor of the state TV building in Damascus, causing heavy material damage and light injuries.

A deadly uprising has convulsed Syria for the past 17 months.