Abdul Halim Khaddam

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.