Riyad Farid Hijab

Riyad Farid Hijab (Arabic رياض فريد حجاب, DMG Riyad Farid Ḥiǧāb; * 1966 in Deir ez- Zor ) is a Syrian politician. He was from June 6 to August 6, 2012 Prime Minister of the country.

Education and Career

Hijab was born in 1966 in Deir ez- Zor Governorate in Deir ez- Zor. He received a Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering. 1989 to 1998 he was president of the local branch of the National Union of Syrian Students. He was a member of the leadership of the Baath Party from 1998 to 2004 and the National Progressive Front. From 2004 to 2008 he was secretary of the Deir ez -Zor branch of the Arabic Socialist Baath Party.

Hijab was established by Decree no. 336 appointed in 2008 to the Governor of Quneitra and 22 February 2011 to the Governor Latakia. On 14 April 2011 he was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, which he replaced Adel Safar, who was Syrian Prime Minister. After the general election in 2012 he was appointed on 6 June 2012 for the Prime Minister and appointed by President Bashar al -Assad with the formation of a government.

Only two months after his appointment as Prime Minister, he sat down on August 6, 2012 with his family to neighboring Jordan from. The Syrian state television said that he had been dismissed. Hijab spokesman confirmed the escape and the defection to the opposition against the TV station al -Jazeera. On August 14, 2012, he declared in a public press conference in Amman that he had voluntarily joined the opposition and was not, as claimed by the government, dismissed. He further stated that the Syrian leadership is militarily, economically and morally collapsed and controlling only 30% of the national territory.