Ghassan Hitto (Arabic: غسان هيتو; born 1963) is a Syrian politician and the first head of an interim government established by the Syrian oppositionNational Coalition.[1][2] Born in Damascus into a Kurdish family, he left Syria to the U.S. in 1980, became a naturalized American citizen and worked as an information technology executive and lived in Texas until recently. In late 2012, he relocated to Turkey.[3] He was elected prime minister on 18 March 2013 by a narrow margin over former Syrian Arab Republic agricultural minister Assad Mustafa.[4] Hitto resigned on 8 July 2013.[5]
Hitto is a former businessman who has lived in the United States for decades, most recently in Murphy, Texas.[2][8] Before joining the opposition, he worked with Inovar, a Telecommunication firm, from 2001 to 2012.[6]
Hitto received 35 of 48 votes cast for the premiership, according to the BBC.[12] Following his election, at least 12 key members of the SNC have suspended their membership partly as a result of Hitto's election on a majority vote instead of a consensus vote.[13]