abdul raouf al-kassem

President Hafez al-Assad with his top officials in the late 1980s
From left to right: Prime Minister Abdul Raouf al-Kassem, Defense Minister Mustapha Tlass, President Hafez al-Assad. Behind Assad stands Abdullah al-Ahmar, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Baath Party

President Hafez al-Assad and US President Bill Clinton in Geneva in March 2000
The Syrian side, from right to left: National Security Adviser Abdul Raouf al-Kassem, President Assad, his interpreter Bouthaina Shaaban, Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara, the presidential note-taker Iskandar Luka. The US side, from left to right: Middle East envoy Dennis Ross, Secretary of State Warren Christopher, President Clinton, National Security Advisor Sandy Berger

President Hafez al-Assad meets US President George Bush on November 23, 1990.
Next to Assad stands the translator Adnan Berniee, then Abdul Raouf al-Kassem, the ex-prime minister and chief of National Security, Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara, and Wahib al-Fadel, the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs.

The Assad-Bush Summit in Geneva on November 23, 1990
From left to right: US President George Bush, President Hafez al-Assad, the translator Adnan Berneii, Abdul Raouf al-Kassem, the chief of National Security, Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara, and Wahib al-Fadel, the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs

US President Bill Clinton in Damascus on October 27, 1994
From left to right: President Hafez al-Assad, President Bill Clinton, Presidential Translator Bouthaina Shaaban, Prime Minister Mahmud al-Zoubi, National Security Advisor Abdul Raouf al-Kassem, Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara

Prime Minister Abdel Raouf al-Kassem delivering a speech in Damascus in 1982
Standing in the back row (from left to right): Abdullah al-Ahmar, the Assistant Secretary General of the Baath Party, Suleiman Qaddah, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Baath Party, President Hafez al-Assad, Vice-President Zuhair Masharka, Khaled Bakdash, the veteran president of the Communist Party, and Abdul Qader Qaddura, who became speaker of Parliament in 1987. From the archives of Syrianhistory.com

Prime Minister Abdul Raouf al-Kassem with Damascus Chamber of Commerce President Bader al-Din al-Shallah in 1982
Shallah used his influence with the business community in Damascus to break a strike in support of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Basel al-Assad at his military graduation, saluting his father, President Hafez al-Assad in the late 1980s
Standing in the middle is Prime Minister Abdul Raouf al-Kassem

Prime Minister Abdul Raouf al-Kassem and his cabinet in a souvenir photo with President Hafez al-Assad in 1985
From left to right: Culture Minister Najah al-Attar, Supply Minister Yusuf al-Hajj Khalil, Transportation Minister Yusuf al-Ahmad, Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara, Prime Minister Kassem, President Assad, Defense Minister Mustapha Tlass, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Salim Yassin, Interior Minister Mohammad Ghabash, Higher Education Minister Kamal Sharaf, Economy Minister Mohammad al-Atrash, Presidential Affairs Minister Wahib al-Fadel