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Abdul Halim Khaddam
Abdul Halim Khaddam (/ˈɑːbdəl həˈliːm kəˈdæm/ ⓘ AHB-dəl hə-LEEM kə-DAM; Arabic: عبد الحليم خدام; 15 September 1932 – 31 March 2020) was a Syrian politician who served as interim President of Syria in 2000 as well as the Vice President of Syria and the Syrian High Commissioner to Lebanon from 1984 to 2005. He was a long known loyalist of Hafez al-Assad under the Ba'athist regime in Syria after the Corrective Movement in 1970. He resigned from his position and left the country in 2005 in protest against certain policies of Hafez's son and successor, Bashar al-Assad. He accumulated substantial wealth while in office: a Credit Suisse account in his name, opened in 1994, had nearly 90 million Swiss francs in September 2003, per Suisse secrets. This puts Khaddam and his family's net worth at $1.1 billion, making them one of the wealthiest and most influential political families in the Middle East.
Abdul Halim Khaddam was born on 15 September 1932, in Baniyas, Syria. His family was Sunni Muslim with a middle-class origin, and his father was a respected lawyer. Khaddam obtained his elementary and secondary education in Baniyas and then studied law at Damascus University.
Khaddam became a member of the Baath Party when he was just 17 years old. He began his political career as governor of Quneitra after the party came to power in 1963. Then he was appointed governor of Hama and Damascus. His first government portfolio was economy and trade minister in the cabinet formed by then head of Syria, Nureddin al Attasi, in 1969, making him the youngest minister in Syrian political history. Then he was named as an advisor to al-Hafez al-Assad. He later served in the Cabinet of Syria. From 1970 until 1984 he was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister under the Syrian President Hafez al-Assad.
In January 1976, Khaddam argued that Lebanon was part of Syria. Khaddam was slightly injured in an attack in Damascus in December 1976. In October 1977, Khaddam again survived an assassination attempt at the Abu Dhabi International Airport. In the course of the attack, Saif Ghobash, the United Arab Emirates' first Minister of State for Foreign Affairs was killed. The Syrian authorities argued that it had been planned and carried out by Iraq. Khaddam reported that Rifaat al-Assad also tried to kill him.
During his visit to Tehran in August 1979 following the Iranian Revolution, he publicly stated that the Syrian government backed the revolution before and after the revolutionary process.
He then served as Vice President from 11 March 1984 to 2005. He was responsible for political and foreign affairs as vice president. He accumulated substantial wealth while in office: a Credit Suisse account, opened in 1994, had nearly 90 million Swiss francs in September 2003, per Suisse secrets.
Khaddam was chief mediator during the Lebanon Civil War, thus giving him the unofficial titles of "High Commissioner" or "Godfather" of Lebanon.
After the death of Hafez al-Assad in 2000, a 9-member committee was founded, which was headed by Khaddam, to oversee the transition period. He was appointed by this committee as interim President of Syria on 10 June and was in consideration to be Assad's permanent successor, but instead helped Assad's son, Bashar al-Assad, who took office in July 2000.
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Abdul Halim Khaddam
Abdul Halim Khaddam (/ˈɑːbdəl həˈliːm kəˈdæm/ ⓘ AHB-dəl hə-LEEM kə-DAM; Arabic: عبد الحليم خدام; 15 September 1932 – 31 March 2020) was a Syrian politician who served as interim President of Syria in 2000 as well as the Vice President of Syria and the Syrian High Commissioner to Lebanon from 1984 to 2005. He was a long known loyalist of Hafez al-Assad under the Ba'athist regime in Syria after the Corrective Movement in 1970. He resigned from his position and left the country in 2005 in protest against certain policies of Hafez's son and successor, Bashar al-Assad. He accumulated substantial wealth while in office: a Credit Suisse account in his name, opened in 1994, had nearly 90 million Swiss francs in September 2003, per Suisse secrets. This puts Khaddam and his family's net worth at $1.1 billion, making them one of the wealthiest and most influential political families in the Middle East.
Abdul Halim Khaddam was born on 15 September 1932, in Baniyas, Syria. His family was Sunni Muslim with a middle-class origin, and his father was a respected lawyer. Khaddam obtained his elementary and secondary education in Baniyas and then studied law at Damascus University.
Khaddam became a member of the Baath Party when he was just 17 years old. He began his political career as governor of Quneitra after the party came to power in 1963. Then he was appointed governor of Hama and Damascus. His first government portfolio was economy and trade minister in the cabinet formed by then head of Syria, Nureddin al Attasi, in 1969, making him the youngest minister in Syrian political history. Then he was named as an advisor to al-Hafez al-Assad. He later served in the Cabinet of Syria. From 1970 until 1984 he was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister under the Syrian President Hafez al-Assad.
In January 1976, Khaddam argued that Lebanon was part of Syria. Khaddam was slightly injured in an attack in Damascus in December 1976. In October 1977, Khaddam again survived an assassination attempt at the Abu Dhabi International Airport. In the course of the attack, Saif Ghobash, the United Arab Emirates' first Minister of State for Foreign Affairs was killed. The Syrian authorities argued that it had been planned and carried out by Iraq. Khaddam reported that Rifaat al-Assad also tried to kill him.
During his visit to Tehran in August 1979 following the Iranian Revolution, he publicly stated that the Syrian government backed the revolution before and after the revolutionary process.
He then served as Vice President from 11 March 1984 to 2005. He was responsible for political and foreign affairs as vice president. He accumulated substantial wealth while in office: a Credit Suisse account, opened in 1994, had nearly 90 million Swiss francs in September 2003, per Suisse secrets.
Khaddam was chief mediator during the Lebanon Civil War, thus giving him the unofficial titles of "High Commissioner" or "Godfather" of Lebanon.
After the death of Hafez al-Assad in 2000, a 9-member committee was founded, which was headed by Khaddam, to oversee the transition period. He was appointed by this committee as interim President of Syria on 10 June and was in consideration to be Assad's permanent successor, but instead helped Assad's son, Bashar al-Assad, who took office in July 2000.
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