Hafez al-Assad
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Hafez al-Assad (
October 6,
1930 -
June 10,
2000) was the President of
Syria from
1971 to
2000.
al-Assad was born in rural Syria as part of the minority
Alawite community. He was the first member of his family to attend
High School and finished top of his class. Because his family had no money to send him to
university al-Assad went to the Syrian Military Academy and received a free higher education. He joined in
1951 and was assigned to the
Air Force division. Showing real aptitude Assad was send to the
Soviet Union to receive advanced training.
Like many of Syria's young officers al-Assad was politically active. At age 16 he had joined the
Ba'ath Party and as he rose through the ranks of the military became an important figure. al-Assad opposed the creation of the
United Arab Republic and despite being stationed in
Cairo worked with other officers to end the union between Syria and
Egypt.
The union collapsed in
1961. In the chaos that followed the dissolution the Ba'athists seized power and al-Assad was appointed head of the
airforce. The state was officially ruled by Amin al-Hafiz a
Sunni Muslim, but it was run by a coterie of young Alawites.
In
1966 these Alawites lanched a violent coup. al-Assad became Minister of Defence, and the true ruler of the country. After being discredited by the failure of the Syrian military in the
Six Days War in
1967 al-Assad overthrew the civilian government and became ruler of Syria in
1970.
al-Assad ruled Syria through the power of the army. He did achieve some popularity because of his moderate reforms and the vast increase in Syria's military power, but was always mistrusted by the population for his
secularism and his Alawite roots.
al-Assad ruled the country until his death in
2000 due to a
heart attack while speaking on the telephone with Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Hoss. He was succeeded by his son
Bashar al-Assad.
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