A top Syrian legal official who resigned his post has said government claims that he did so under threat of violence were "utterly false".

 

Hama attorney-general Adnan Bakkour resigned on Wednesday in protest at crimes against humanity he said were being committed by government troops.

State media said he had been kidnapped and forced to lie at gunpoint.

In a second video, Mr Bakkour said he had been speaking freely, and that state soldiers had tried to seize him.

The Sana state news agency had quoted an official source as saying Mr Bakkour's statements were "lies about completely false practices," and that he had been forced to make them.

The official told Sana the story was "another dirty game by al-Jazeera" - referring to the Qatari-owned pan-Arab news channel.