Ghassan Hitto (Arabic: غسان هيتو; born 1963) is a Syrian politician and the first head of an interim government established by the Syrian opposition National 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 graduated from Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis in 1989 with degrees in mathematics and computer science.^[6][7] He also received an M.B.A. at Indiana Wesleyan University in 1994.^[3][6]

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 is married to Suzanne Hitto, an American schoolteacher; they have four children, Amer, Imran, Obaida, Lama all born in the United States.^[4] He has worked in the technology sector and supported the private school Brighter Horizons Academy^[9] founded in 1989 by the Islamic Services Foundation (ISF).^[10] He is also a founding member of the Muslim Legal Fund of America^[11] created after the 11 September 2001 attacks to give legal aid to Muslims.

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]