Riyad Farid Hijab (Arabic: رياض فريد حجاب, romanized: Riyāḍ Farīd Ḥijāb; born 1966) is a Syrian politician. He was Prime Minister of Syria from June to August 2012, serving under President Bashar al-Assad. From 2011 to 2012, he was Minister of Agriculture. On 6 August 2012, the Syrian government released a statement saying that Hijab had been dismissed. Shortly thereafter, a man describing himself as Hijab's spokesman and several news organizations stated he had defected to the side of the Syrian opposition involved in the Syrian civil war. Hijab managed to escape to Jordan with 45 members of his family, with the help of a large number of members of the Free Syrian Army. Source: Wikipedia (en)