Hafez al- Assad President of Syria Country: Syria

Biography of Hafez al-Assad

Hafez al-Assad was born in Kardaha, northwest Syria, in 1928 or 1930. He joined the Ba'ath Party, attracted by its pan-Arab socialist ideals. In 1951, he was elected president of the Union of Syrian Students. In 1952, he enrolled in the military academy in Homs and later attended flight school in Aleppo, graduating in 1955. He then traveled to the Soviet Union for further studies.

After the formation of the United Arab Republic (1958-1961), Assad was sent to Cairo, where he served as a commander of a jet fighter squadron. He was dismissed from the armed forces due to his opposition to the union with Egypt. In Cairo, he formed a secret Military Committee and participated in the Ba'athist movement. Upon his return to Syria, he took part in the coup that brought the Ba'athist government to power in 1963.

Before his election as president for a seven-year term in May 1971, Assad held positions as Minister of Defense, Commander of the Air Force (1966-1970), and Prime Minister (1970-1971). He regularly ran for re-election and consistently received over 99% of the votes. Simultaneously, he utilized security services to suppress any organized opposition.

In Hama, where a rebellion led by the organization "Muslim Brotherhood" occurred in 1982, troops under the command of Assad's brother Rifat killed tens of thousands of insurgents and virtually destroyed the city. Assad also participated in the joint war with Egypt against Israel in October 1973. Starting from the mid-1970s, he frequently intervened in the course of the war in Lebanon, claiming that Lebanon was part of Greater Syria. Israel accused Assad of turning a blind eye to guerrillas based in southern Lebanon who conducted raids against Israel. The United States, which referred to Syria as a base for international terrorism after 1979, suspected Assad's involvement in terrorist attacks against US citizens in the 1980s.

Due to a lack of internal resources to finance Syria's military ambitions, Assad sought financial assistance from the Soviet Union. However, by the end of the 1980s, when the Soviet Union began to disintegrate, he redirected his policies towards the West and opposed Iraq during the Gulf War (1990-1991). In the early 1990s, as the PLO and Jordan reached separate agreements to settle the conflict with Israel, Assad began to show interest in negotiations with Israel but proceeded cautiously, aiming to gain maximum benefits in exchange for supporting the peace process. In 1994, when he started insisting on the return of the Golan Heights under Syrian control, the negotiations reached an impasse.

Towards the end of the 1990s, rumors began circulating about the appointment of a successor amid Assad's deteriorating health. Hafez al-Assad passed away in Damascus on June 10, 2000.