Ghassan Hitto

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Ghassan Hitto

Ghassan Hitto ( Arabic غسان هيتو; * 1963 in Damascus , Syria ) was from March 18, 2013 to July 8, 2013 the first Prime Minister of a transitional government in the Syrian civil war supported by the opposition Syrian national coalition . He is of Kurdish descent and is a US national.

Life

Hitto studied in the State of Indiana at Purdue University and Indiana Wesleyan University mathematics and computer science and received his bachelor and master degrees. He then lived for a long time in the United States, most recently in Wayne , Texas , where he worked as a businessman and manager in the telecommunications and IT industries. His wife, Suzanne Hitto, is an American teacher. The couple have four children who were born in the United States. In Texas, Hitto got involved in an Islamic school. He also set up a fund to provide legal assistance to Muslims in the United States who were suspected after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Until 2012, Hitto was largely unknown in circles of the Syrian opposition. He then began to organize humanitarian aid for the population affected by the civil war and finally moved to Turkey to coordinate work in the "liberated areas" from there. On March 18, 2013 Ghassan Hitto was elected Prime Minister of the opposition with 35 votes out of 49. However, some members of the body, which actually consists of around 70 people, boycotted the vote. The commander of the Free Syrian Army , Selim Idriss , assured him of his support. Hitto's critics, on the other hand, question whether a civilian and US citizen who has lived abroad for decades will really be accepted by the numerous rebel groups and militias that are fighting against the government of Bashar al-Assad .

Ghassan Hitto is close to the Islamist movement. More left-wing and liberal sections of the Syrian opposition, who rejected his election, saw the decision in favor of Hitto as a concession to the government of Qatar , which strongly supports the rebels and especially the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood .

Hitto was based in Istanbul . He ruled out negotiations with President Assad and instead relied on his overthrow by deserting further officers of the government troops.

On July 8, 2013, he resigned from his position as Prime Minister of the interim government.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Ghassan Hitto: Syria's opposition elects US managers as prime minister. Die Welt, March 19, 2013.
  2. ↑ Syrian opposition: Ghassan Hitto becomes head of the transitional government. Frankfurter Allgemeine, March 19, 2013.
    Civil war in Syria: Opposition agrees on prime minister for interim government. Focus Online, March 19, 2013.
  3. ↑ Joe Sterling, Nick Paton Walsh, Holly Yan: Syrian regime, rebels blame each other for chemical attacks , CNN, March 19, 2013, accessed March 19, 2013.
  4. ↑ a b c regime critic Hitto: Syrian opposition elects head of government. In: Spiegel Online . March 19, 2013. Retrieved March 19, 2013 .
  5. ↑ a b c d Ben Hubbard: Syrian opposition elects interim prime minister. USA Today, March 18, 2013.
  6. ^ A b Anne Barnard: Syrian Rebels Pick US Citizen to Lead Interim Government. The New York Times, March 18, 2013.
  7. ^ Benjamin Barthe: L'opposition syrienne à nouveau en crise. In: Le Monde , March 26, 2013, p. 5.
  8. ↑ http://www.dradio.de/nachrichten/201303191800/2
  9. ↑ zeit.de: Syria - Assad dismisses the entire top of the Baath party
personal data
SURNAME Hitto, Ghassan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Syrian businessman and politician
DATE OF BIRTH 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Damascus