KARACHI - Provincial Minister for Sindh Technical Education and Vocational Training Department Abdul Salam Thaheem passed away on Sunday morning after a protracted illness.Thaheem was under treatment in a private hospital in Karachi. The deceased was ill for sometime and was suffering from kidney ailment.His body has been sent to his native town of Shahdadpur, Sanghar District for burial in a graveyard of his birth place Tayyab Thaheem. Thaheem was elected as Sindh Assembly member from Shahdadpur provincial constituency in Sanghar district in general elections of 2008, till his death he was serving as Minister for as Sindh Technical Education and Vocational Training Department. Salam Thaheem was born in January 1st, 1950 at Shahdadpur. He was among old PPP guards and has been Provincial Minister in previous PPP governments.Thaheem was also elected as member Provincial Assembly in 1993 and 1997 and served as Minister Education and Minister for Excise Department.In his academic qualification, Thaheem did his Bachelor in Arts from Sindh University Jamshoro. He has four children.Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari in a condolence message to the family of Abdul Salam Thaheem, prayed to Allah Almighty to rest the departed soul in eternal peace and grant courage to the bereaved family to bear this irreparable loss with fortitude.Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and the PPP leaders all over the country also expressed deep sorrow and grief over his sad demise.Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, has expressed deep sorrow and grief on the demise of provincial minister, Abdul Salam Theheem, who passed away at a local hospital on Sunday morning. Qaim Ali Shah said that late Salam Thaheem was also a senior leader of the PPP.He said that the services of the deceased especially those for the cause of democracy would always be remembered.The Sindh Home Minister, Manzoor Hussain Wassan, has also condoled the demise of Salam Thaheem. He also recalled the services rendered by the deceased for the cause of democracy as well as for the PPP. Special Assistants to Chief Minister Sindh, Rashid Hussain Rabbani, and Syed Waqar Medhi also condoled the demise of Salam Thaheem and recounted his services as a senior leader of the PPP and for the cause of democracy.Meanwhile, the first session of new Parliamentary year of Sindh Assembly, which was to start on April 23rd would be adjourned to mourn death of Provincial Minister Abdul Salam Thaheem, who was sitting MPA of the House.