Syrian Vice-President Abdul Halim Khaddam has resigned from the government and the ruling Baath party. Mr Khaddam is said to have made his announcement during a meeting of the Baath party on the first day of a conference focusing on reform.
No reason has been given for his resignation and it is not known if the party has accepted it. Mr Khaddam, a veteran hardliner, is seen as an architect of Syrian influence in neighbouring Lebanon. BBC regional analyst Daniel Nassif says Mr Khaddam's influence has grown weaker recently. | So has Syrian influence in Lebanon |
International pressure earlier this year forced Syria to withdraw the troops it had sent to Lebanon during the 1975-1990 civil war.
Mr Khaddam was born in 1932 and is one of Syria's oldest leaders, having worked for Hafez al-Assad, father of the current leader, Bashar al-Assad. He was a foreign minister and deputy prime minister in the Baath party before he was promoted to vice-president in the 1980s. For decades, he charted Damascus' policy towards Beirut. He was quoted in 1976 as saying: "Lebanon will either be united or will be returned to Syria."
No explanation has been offered for his resignation, which comes at the start of a Baath party conference that is expected to recommend opening up Syria's economic and political life. A party source told the Reuters news agency that Mr Khaddam expressed his wish to step down "during a meeting of the political committee of the party to which resignations are not normally submitted". "It can neither accept not reject any resignation," the source was quoted as saying. | Forced out or leaving before he could be forced to? |
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