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Abdul Halim Khaddam

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His Excellency
Abdul Halim Khaddam
عبدالحليم خدام‎
Foreign Minister Khaddam in 1977
ActingPresident of Syria
In office
10 June 2000 – 17 July 2000
Prime MinisterMuhammad Mustafa Mero
Vice PresidentRifaat al-Assad
Himself
Zuhair Masharqa
Preceded byHafez al-Assad
Succeeded byBashar al-Assad
9thVice President of Syria
In office
11 March 1984 – 9 February 2005
PresidentHafez al-Assad
Himself (acting)
Bashar al-Assad
Preceded byMahmoud al-Ayyubi
Succeeded byFarouk al-Sharaa
14thMinister of Foreign Affairs
In office
5 July 1970 – 1 March 1984
Prime Minister
See list
Preceded byMustapha al-Said
Succeeded byFarouk al-Sharaa
Member of theRegional Commandof theSyrian Regional Branch
In office
13 November 1970 – 9 February 2005
Personal details
Born(1932-09-15)15 September 1932
Baniyas,First Syrian Republic
Died31 March 2020(2020-03-31)(aged 87)
Paris,France
Political partyBa'ath Party(1984–2006)
National Salvation Front(2006–2020)

Abdul Halim Khaddam(/ˈɑːbdəlhəˈliːmkəˈdæm/ⓘAHB-dəl hə-LEEMkə-DAM;Arabic:عبد الحليم خدام;‎ 15 September 1932 – 31 March 2020)[1]was a Syrian politician who served as interimPresident of Syriain 2000. He also wasVice President of Syriaand "High Commissioner" to Lebanon from 1984 to 2005. He was long known as a loyalist ofHafez Assad[2]until he resigned from his position and left the country in 2005 in protest against certain policies of Hafez's son and successor,Bashar Assad.He accumulated substantial wealth while in office: aCredit Suisseaccount, opened in 1994, was nearly 90 million Swiss francs in September 2003, perSuisse secrets.

Early life and education[edit]

Abdul Halim Khaddam was born on 15 September 1932,[3][4]inBaniyas,Syria.[5]His family was Sunni Muslim with a middle-class origin,[6]and his father was a respected lawyer.[7]Khaddam obtained his elementary and secondary education in Baniyas and then studied law atDamascus University.[6]

Career[edit]

Khaddam (3rd from right) atHafez al-Assad's inauguration at the Syrian parliament, March 1971

Khaddam became a member of the Baath Party when he was just 17 years old.[6]He began his political career as governor ofQuneitraafter the party came to power in 1963.[6]Then he was appointed governor of Hama and Damascus.[6]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.[6]Then he was named as an advisor to Hafez Assad.[8]He later served in theCabinet of Syria.

From 1970 until 1984 he wasMinister of Foreign AffairsandDeputy Prime Ministerunder theSyrian dictator Hafez al-Assad.[9]

In January 1976, Khaddam argued that Lebanon was part of Syria.[10]Khaddam was slightly injured in an attack in Damascus in December 1976.[11]In October 1977, Khaddam again survived an assassination attempt at theAbu Dhabi International Airport.In the course of the attack,Saif Ghobash,theUnited Arab Emirates'first Minister of State for Foreign Affairs was killed. The Syrian authorities argued that it had been planned and carried out byIraq.[8]Khaddam reported thatRifat Assadalso tried to kill him.[12]

During his visit toTehranin August 1979 following theIranian Revolution,he publicly stated that the Syrian government backed the revolution before and after the revolutionary process.[13]

He then served asVice Presidentfrom 11 March 1984 to 2005.[14][15]He was responsible for political and foreign affairs as vice president.[16]He accumulated substantial wealth while in office: aCredit Suisseaccount, opened in 1994, was nearly 90 million Swiss francs in September 2003, perSuisse secrets.[17]

Khaddam with Assad andRichard Nixonin July 1974

Khaddam was chief mediator during theLebanon Civil War,thus giving him the unofficial titles of "High Commissioner" or "Godfather" of Lebanon.[18]

After the death of Hafez Assad in 2000, a 9-member committee was founded, which was headed by Khaddam, to oversee the transition period.[19]He was appointed by this committee as interimPresident of Syriaon 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.[9][20]

Khaddam was one of the only senior officials in Syria who was close to Lebanese Ministers and members of Parliament, most notorious was his friendship with Prime MinisterRafik Hariri.[21][22]Hariri partnered with Khaddam's sons in many businesses projects in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.[12]

Resignation[edit]

As the new president, Bashar Assad strengthened his grip on theBaathistbureaucracy, Khaddam, and other members of the "old guard" of the government, gradually lost influence. He announced his resignation on 5 June 2005 during the Baath Party conference after publicly criticizing the regime's many blunders, especially in Lebanon, making him the only high ranking Syrian official to publicly resign office while in Syria and at a Ba'ath Party conference, a move which many inside Syria considered extremely brave because of the potential risks involved. He then went to France with his family in fear for their safety as intelligence reports started coming in of potential assassination plots against him and other members of his family by the Assad regime.[23]That made him the last influential member of the "old guard" to leave the top tier of the government. The announcement came at a point when Bashar Al-Assad had been trying to have his political wings clipped. After resigning, he relocated to Paris ostensibly to write his memoirs.[24]

Defection and exile[edit]

Hussein,Assad,Bouteflikaand Khaddam at the1978 Arab league summitinBaghdad

On 30 December 2005, Khaddam fled Syria.[25]In an interview withAl Arabiyaon the same day, Khaddam denounced Assad's many "political blunders" in dealing withLebanon.He especially attackedRustum Ghazali,former head of Syrian operations in Lebanon, but defended his predecessor,Ghazi Kanaan,Syria's interior minister. Khaddam also said that former Lebanese prime ministerRafik Hariri,to whom Khaddam was considered close, "received many threats" from Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.[26]

The Syrian parliament responded the next day by voting to bring treason charges against him, and the Baath Party expelled him. Following the Khaddam interview, theUN Commissionheaded byDetlev Mehlisinvestigating the Hariri murder said it had asked the Syrian authorities to questionBashar Assadand Syria's Foreign MinisterFarouk al-Sharaa.He met with the UN investigators searching forthe Hariri assassinationin Paris in January 2006.[27]His accusations against Assad and his inner circle regarding the Hariri assassination also grew more explicit: Khaddam said he believed that Assad ordered Hariri's assassination.[5]

On 14 January 2006, Khaddam announced that he was forming a "government in exile",predicting the end of Assad's government by the end of 2006. Khaddam is the highest-ranking Syrian official to have publicly cut his ties with the Syrian government, includingRifaat al-Assad.Khaddam formed the opposition groupNational Salvation Front in Syria(NSF) in 2006 which supports political transition in Syria.[9]The NSF had its last meeting on 16 September 2007 inBerlin,where some 140 opposition figures attended. On 16 February 2008, Khaddam accused the Syrian government of assassinating a topHezbollahfugitive,Imad Mughniyeh,"for Israel's sake."[28]

Trial[edit]

Khaddam was tried in absentia by a military court in Damascus and sentenced to hard labour for life and to be stripped of his civil rights and prevented from residing in Damascus orTartus,his native town, in August 2008.[29]The reason for the verdict was "slandering the Syrian leadership and lying before an international tribunal regarding the killing of former Lebanese Prime MinisterRafiq Hariri."[29]

Corruption accusations[edit]

Khaddam, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, withPrince Saud al Faisal,Ronald Reagan,andGeorge Shultzin 1982

Following his defection, Khaddam was accused of accepting German and French bribes to burynuclear wastein theSyrian desertin the mid-1980s.[30][31]

Role in the Syrian Civil War[edit]

Khaddam was considered an opposition leader to the Syrian government by the United States and the EU. He maintained strong relations with many senior army generals who had defected from the Syrian government and was supporting them to overthrow Bashar Al-Assad.[32]In 2016, he accusedIranof supporting the rise ofIslamic State of Iraq and Syria,saying that Iran "is working along the lines of creating a Sunni power to fight Sunnis in the region".[33]He also blamed the U.S. for "pushingTurkeyinto Russia’s open arms "and suggested that the U.S. had a role in the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt.[33][34]He also believed that the U.S. was no longer capable of fixing the situation in Syria.[34]

Personal life[edit]

Khaddam was married to Najat Marqabi, who is a member of a rich and well-knownTartousfamily.[35]They had three sons and one daughter.[6]One of his granddaughters is married toRafik Hariri's son.[36]Khaddam was interested in reading political works and hunting.[6]

He died of a heart attack on 31 March 2020 inParis,France.[4][37][38]

References[edit]

  1. ^Mroue, Bassem (1 April 2020)."Syrian ex-VP, foreign minister dies of heart attack in Paris".Huron Daily Tribune.Archived fromthe originalon 3 April 2020.Retrieved1 April2020.
  2. ^"Profile: Abdul Halim Khaddam".BBC.31 December 2005.Archivedfrom the original on 28 June 2019.Retrieved23 December2012.
  3. ^"La mort d'Abdel Halim Khaddam, ancien vice-président syrien".Le Monde.fr(in French). 1 April 2020.Archivedfrom the original on 7 April 2022.Retrieved3 April2020.
  4. ^ab"Syrian Ex-VP, Foreign Minister Dies of Heart Attack in Paris".The New York Times.1 April 2020.Archivedfrom the original on 3 April 2020.Retrieved1 April2020.
  5. ^ab"Profile: Abdul Halim Khaddam".BBC.31 December 2005.Archivedfrom the original on 28 June 2019.Retrieved23 December2012.
  6. ^abcdefgh"Profile: Abdel Halim Khaddam".Lebanon Wire.7 June 2005. Archived fromthe originalon 27 March 2006.Retrieved23 December2012.
  7. ^Drysdale, Alasdair (January 1981). "The Syrian Political Elite, 1966–1976: A Spatial and Social Analysis".Middle Eastern Studies.17(1): 3–30.doi:10.1080/00263208108700455.JSTOR4282814.
  8. ^ab"Syrian blames Iraq for terrorist attack".Ottawa Citizen.Abu Dhabi. AP. 26 October 1977.Archivedfrom the original on 26 December 2023.Retrieved23 November2020.
  9. ^abcBowen, Andrew (17 September 2012)."Syria's Future and Iran's Great Game".The Majalla.Archived fromthe originalon 28 October 2012.Retrieved23 December2012.
  10. ^"Syrian chronicles 1973–1990".Tayyar. Archived fromthe originalon 19 December 2011.Retrieved11 April2013.
  11. ^"Syrian minister wounded in attack".The Palm Beach Post.Damascus. UPI. 2 December 1976.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^abGlass, Charles (4 August 2005)."An Assassin's Land".London Review of Books.27(15). Archived fromthe originalon 29 May 2014.Retrieved9 April2013.
  13. ^Badran, Tony (22 June 2010)."Syriana".Tablet.Archivedfrom the original on 6 September 2013.Retrieved4 August2013.
  14. ^"Abdel-Halim Khaddam:" I'm not going to head Syria's transitional government "".The Voice of Russia.10 September 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 17 April 2013.Retrieved23 December2012.
  15. ^"Syria Primer"(PDF).Virtual Information Center. 24 April 2003. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 22 February 2013.Retrieved2 March2013.
  16. ^"Syria's Assad forms new cabinet".Sarasota Herald-Tribune.Damascus. AP. 12 March 1984.Archivedfrom the original on 24 August 2022.Retrieved23 November2020.
  17. ^OCCRP and SüddeutscheZeitung (21 February 2022)."False Spring: Credit Suisse Had Deep Ties to Arab Elite on Eve of Historic Uprisings".Archivedfrom the original on 23 February 2022.Retrieved23 February2022.
  18. ^"Khaddam due in Beirut soon".The Montreal Gazette.Beirut. AP-UPI. 15 June 1984.Archivedfrom the original on 26 December 2023.Retrieved23 November2020.
  19. ^"Bashar Aims to Consolidate Power in the Short-Term and to Open up Gradually".APS Diplomat News Service.19 June 2000.Archivedfrom the original on 10 June 2019.Retrieved26 March2013.
  20. ^Takieddine, Randa (1 April 2020)."Godfather of the Assad regime takes Rafik Hariri secrets to the grave".Arab News.Archivedfrom the original on 20 June 2022.Retrieved1 April2020.
  21. ^William Harris (2012).Lebanon: A History, 600–2011.Oxford University Press. p. 262.ISBN978-0-19-518111-1.Archivedfrom the original on 26 December 2023.Retrieved12 October2015.
  22. ^Mugraby, Mohammad (July 2008)."The Syndrome of One-Time Exceptions and the Drive to Establish the Proposed Hariri Court"(PDF).Mediterranean Politics.13(2): 171–193.doi:10.1080/13629390802127513.S2CID153915546.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 12 October 2013.Retrieved15 March2013.
  23. ^"Syria party kicks out 'traitor'".1 January 2006.Archivedfrom the original on 3 January 2006.Retrieved26 December2023.
  24. ^Moubayed, Sami (5–11 January 2006)."The fox speaks".Al Ahram.Archived fromthe originalon 27 March 2013.Retrieved30 November2012.
  25. ^Mallat, Chibli.Lebanon's Cedar Revolution An essay on non-violence and justice(PDF).Mallat. p. 125. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2 February 2012.
  26. ^Stern, Yoav (30 December 2005)."Former Syrian VP says Assad was involved in Hariri's death".Haaretz.AP.Archivedfrom the original on 18 September 2012.Retrieved30 November2012.
  27. ^"Khaddam meets UN panel".Gulf Daily News.Paris. 8 January 2006.Retrieved23 December2012.[permanent dead link]
  28. ^"Khaddam Accuses Syria of Killing Mughniyeh".Naharnet.16 February 2008.Archivedfrom the original on 21 May 2011.Retrieved31 March2011.
  29. ^ab"Khaddam is sentenced to hard labour for life".Gulf Daily News.Damascus. 31 August 2008.Retrieved23 December2012.[permanent dead link]
  30. ^"Republic of Caution".washingtoninstitute.org.20 February 2006.Archivedfrom the original on 24 August 2022.Retrieved31 March2020.
  31. ^الرئيس السوري يصدر توجيهات صارمة بمنع فتح ملف النفايات النووية وبقية ملفات خدام الأخرى.ahewar.org(in Arabic). 19 February 2006.Archivedfrom the original on 24 August 2022.Retrieved31 March2020.
  32. ^"Khaddam calls for Syrian revolt".BBC News.6 January 2006.Archivedfrom the original on 14 September 2020.Retrieved1 April2020.
  33. ^abWahab, Siraj (6 October 2016)."Daesh was nurtured by Iran, says former Syrian vice president".Arab News.Arab News.Archivedfrom the original on 18 October 2016.Retrieved15 October2016.
  34. ^abHatoum, Leila (5 October 2016)."EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Former Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam".Newsweek.Newsweek.Archivedfrom the original on 11 October 2016.Retrieved15 October2016.
  35. ^"Syria-The Power Elite".Mongabay.Archivedfrom the original on 30 July 2013.Retrieved24 February2013.
  36. ^Bar, Shmuel (2006)."Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview"(PDF).IPS.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 23 July 2011.Retrieved12 March2013.
  37. ^"Former Syrian Vice President Abdel-Halim Khaddam passes away in France".31 March 2020. Archived fromthe originalon 31 March 2020.Retrieved31 March2020.
  38. ^"Syrian ex-vice president Khaddam, foe of Assad, dies in France at 88".Reuters.31 March 2020.Archivedfrom the original on 10 April 2020.Retrieved31 March2020– via www.reuters.com.

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June – July 2000 		Succeeded by
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