After nearly 18 months of dealing with an uprising in his country, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad is having trouble sleeping at night, according to a Syrian journalist who previously worked at the presidential palace.

The journalist, Abdallah Omar, said in an interview quoted by Channel 10 News that Assad “can sleep for only an hour or two at night.”

Omar, who recently defected from Syria because of the ongoing violence in the country, said that the Syrian president watches from his office no less than 16 TV channels belonging to the rebel forces in the country. According to Omar, the official Syrian television is “less interesting for Assad.”

“Assad sits all day watching TV with a remote control,” said Omar. “He listens to each satellite channel. Every time he gets nervous and angry, he looks out the window at the view of Damascus.”

 According to Omar, Assad knew in advance of any official who defected. “Assad receives detailed daily reports from Syrian embassies around the world, including news that is published about Syria and people who defected and left the country.”

The Syrian journalist also claimed that officials in the Assad regime plan to flee into Russia within 60 days.