Abdul-Halim Khaddam

Abdul Halim Khaddam عبدالحليم خدام
Khaddam in 1975
Vice President of Syria
In office March 1984 – 6 June 2005
President	Hafez al-Assad Bashar al-Assad
President of Syria Interim
In office 10 June 2000 – 17 July 2000
Preceded by	Hafez al-Assad
Succeeded by	Bashar al-Assad
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 1970–1984
Preceded by	Mustapha al-Said
Succeeded by	Farouk al-Sharaa
Member of the Regional Command of the Syrian Regional Branch
In office 13 November 1970 – 9 June 2005
Personal details
Born	(1932-09-15) 15 September 1932 (age 84) Baniyas, Syria
Political party	Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (until 2006) National Salvation Front in Syria (2006 onwords)
Religion	Islam

Abdul Halim Khaddam ( pronunciation  AHB-dl hah-LEEM kah-DAM (Arabic: عبد الحليم خدام‎‎; born 15 September 1932) is a Syrian politician who was Vice President of Syria from 1984 to 2005. He was one of the few Sunni Muslims to make it to the top of the Alawite-dominated Syrian leadership. He was long known as a loyalist of Hafez Assad, and held a strong position within the Syrian government until he resigned his positions and fled the country in 2005 in protest against certain policies of Hafez's son and successor, Bashar Assad.

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.