Hafez al-Assad

He was hard-working, skillful and highly ambitious, and became one of the leaders of the Military Committee, which was established in Egypt with aim of rescuing the UAR from dissolution. Read Less

In the first stage of the power struggle, Assad remained the junior partner in the leading Alawite Triumvirate of the Military Committee, along with generals Umran and Jadid. Read Less

Under the provisions of the emergency law, the press was limited to three Ba'ath-controlled newspapers and political dissidents were often tried in security courts that operated outside the regular judicial system. Human Rights Watch estimated that a minimum of 17,000 people had disappeared without the formalities of a trial. Every seven years, Assad was nominated as the sole candidate for president by the People's Council, and confirmed in office by a referendum. He was re-elected four times, each time gaining over 99 percent of the vote—including three times in which he received unanimous support, according to official figures.

Assad's domestic policy encountered serious difficulties and setbacks, and produced new problems and ill feelings, particularly among the Sunni urban classes; the orthodox section of these classes continued to oppose Assad's regime for being a sectarian military dictatorship. The continued Muslim opposition to his regime and the shortcomings of his socio-economic policies forced Assad's to focus primarily on Syria's regional affairs, namely intra-Arab and anti-Israeli policies. This tendency did not stem only from Assad's expectations to score quick and spectacular gains in his foreign policies at a time when the socio-economic issues of Syria required long-term and painstaking efforts without promise of immediate positive results. In addition to his ambition to turn Syria into a regional power and to himself become a pan-Arab leader, Assad calculated that working for Arab unity and stepping up the struggle against Israel were likely to strengthen his legitimacy and leadership among the various sections of the Syrian population. Read Less

In response, troops led by his brother Rifaat took revenge by killing 250 inmates at Tadmor Prison in Palmyra. Read Less

Saudi Arabia mediated in order to calm the two countries. Syria's hostility towards Jordan was partly fueled by Jordan's good relationship with Iraq. During the Iraq-Iran War, Syria and Jordan supported different sides. Not even the threat of war with Syria prevented King Hussein from supporting Iraq; however the rest of the Arab States of the Persian Gulf did the same. In October 1998, Syria's Defense Minister Mustafa Tlass stated that "there is no such country as Jordan. Jordan was merely south Syria". Read Less

Around 200 Americans was killed. Syria's ambassador in the US disclaimed any Syria's involvement but the thought differently so Congress passed an emergency bill canceling economic aid previously approved for Syria. It was later reported that Syria had provided support for the attack. Around 800 Shia extremists had been trained in Syria and Assad's cousin Adnan al-Assad had supervised the preparations for the attack. Syria decided to resist American and French if attacked. Syria's Defense Minister Mustafa Tlass said that Syria would launch suicide attacks on the American Sixth Fleet. In December 1983, when American planes pounded Syrian positions in Biqa' valley, the Syrian air-defense system fought back. Two American airplanes were destroyed and one pilot was taken prisoner of war. Just before the attack, Israel's Prime Minister had visited Washington; Syria linked the American attack with the visit.

In the 1990s, Syria maintained good relations with the United States, but several problems prevented them establishing a friendly relationship. In April 1992, Syria allowed Jews to emigrate to Israel, which was welcomed by the Bush administration. Syria also showed its commitment to the peace process and requested US to take a more active part. However, relations between the countries were still characterized by mutual distrust and differences of opinion on key issues. Read Less

He withdrew from public life and a battle for succession took place between Assad's brother Rifaat and the army generals. Assad's recovery and return brought an end to the discord and he took advantage of the situation to undermine his brother's position, eventually sending him into exile. Read Less

In 1983 the Syrian Foreign Minister Abdul Halim Khaddam visited Moscow. Soviet Foreign Minister Andrey Gromyko argued that Syria and the Soviet Union must resolve their differences concerning the Palestinian movement as stopping the internal conflict would allow the "anti-Imperialist struggle."

During the diplomatic crisis between the United States and Syria, which escalated into minor clashes, Syrian counted on Soviet help if war should break out. Vladimir Yukhin, the Soviet ambassador in Damascus, expressed his country's appreciation "for the firm Syrian position in the face of Imperialism and Zionism." The Soviet attitude did not satisfied Syria completely. Assad's government considered entering the Warsaw Pact to gain Soviet support and to match the United States and Israel. Syria and the Soviet Union signed the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation in October 1980, which was focused on cultural, technical, military, economic, and transport relations. This treaty included joint action in case any of the countries were attacked and forbade both Syria and the Soviet Union from joining any alliance that was against one of the signatories. Syria's efforts to improve the strategic relations with the Soviet Union meant that Syria was not completely satisfied with the current Treaty. Even before the Treaty was signed, the Soviet Union had backed the Arab countries in the Six-Day War of 1967 and the Yom Kippur War of 1973. During the 1982 Lebanon War, the Soviet Union kept a policy of low profile. Read Less

Assad stressed that Jewish emigration to Israel was an embarrassment to Syria and served to strengthen Israel. Radio Damascus denied claims that the Soviet Union and Syria were becoming distant and stated that the Assad's visit had renewed the momentum in the relations between the countries, consolidating their common view of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Syrian daily newspaper, Tishrin, stated that after this visit, the relation between the Soviet Union and Syria would be expanded. A few weeks after he returned from Moscow, Assad, in a speech to the National Federation of Syrian Students, said that the Soviet Union remained a firm friend of Syria and the Arabs, and that even though Mikhail Gorbachev and his government were preoccupied with internal affairs, they had not ignored external issues, especially those related to their friends. In 1990, 44.3% of Syrian exports were traded in the Soviet Union. Just before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the relationship between the countries changed. In April 1991, the Syrian Foreign Minister al-Sharaa visited the Soviet Union, the only visit that year. Soviet Foreign Ministers Alexander Bessmertnykh and Boris Pankin visited Syria in May and October, but those visits were in connection with the American Middle East peace initiative, accentuating the decline in the status of the Soviet Union in the region. Read Less

Assad's government was accustomed to working without his direct involvement in day-to-day affairs. Read Less