Syrian Air Force pilot and cosmonaut with the Soviet Interkosmos space program. He was the second Arab and the first Syrian citizen to travel to space.
He rose to the rank of colonel in the Syrian Air Force.
He flew on one mission to the Mir Space Station as part of the Interkosmos program and earned a 1987 Hero of the Soviet Union honor.
His marriage produced three children.
He and Astronaut Helen Sharman both visited the Mir Space Station.
