Abdul Halim Khaddam, a former Syrian vice president who became a prominent opponent of President Bashar Assad’s rule after fleeing to Paris in 2005, died on Tuesday in France, Salah Ayach, a Syrian exile who was close to him, said. He was 88.
Khaddam died at 5 am (0300 GMT) of a heart attack, Ayach said, according to Reuters.
Khaddam had served for 30 years in the Syrian state under the late President Hafez Assad and his son, Bashar, who became president in 2000.
