Abdo Hussameddin

Abdo Hussameddin was Syria's Deputy Minister for Petroleum and Mineral Resources until he announced his resignation in a video message posted to the internet on March 8, 2012. He explained his decision to defect to the Syrian opposition in a message addressed to President Bashar al-Assad, saying: "You brought a year of sadness and misery to those you claim to be your people and deprived them from basic needs and humanity, and brought the country to the brink of disaster though your stubbornness and arrogance while you are cut off from reality."