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Rifaat Al-Assad
Rifaat Ali al-Assad (; born 22 August 1937) is a Syrian former military officer and politician. He is the younger brother of the late President of Syria, Hafez al-Assad, and Jamil al-Assad, and the uncle of the former President Bashar al-Assad. He was the commanding officer of the ground operations of the 1982 Hama massacre ordered by his brother. After launching a 1984 Syrian coup attempt, failed coup attempt against Hafez al-Assad in 1984, Rifaat lived in exile in Europe for 36 years and returned to Syria in October 2021 after being found guilty in France of acquiring millions of euros diverted from the Syrian state. In September 2022, France's highest court, the Court of Cassation (France), Cour de Cassation, confirmed the ruling. In August 2023, Switzerland issued an international warrant for Rifaat's arrest after its Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland, Federal Criminal Court demanded his extradition to prosecute him for his role in supervising ground operations of the 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al-Assad Family
The Assad family ruled Syria from 1971, when Hafez al-Assad became President of Syria, president under the Ba'ath Party (Syrian-dominated faction), Ba'ath Party following the Corrective Movement (Syria), 1970 coup, until Bashar al-Assad was Fall of the Assad regime, ousted on 8 December 2024. Bashar succeeded his father, Hafez al-Assad, after Death and state funeral of Hafez al-Assad, Hafez's death in 2000. The Assads are from Qardaha, Latakia Governorate. They attributed themselves to the Kalbiyya tribe. In 1927, Ali Sulayman al-Assad, Ali Sulayman arrived as an immigrant originally Kaka'i (Yarsanism) from Iran and changed his last name from ''al-Wahsh'', Arabic for 'the savage', to ''al-Assad'', 'the lion', possibly in connection with his social standing as a local mediator and his political activities. All members of the extended Assad family stem from Ali Sulayman and his second wife, Naissa, who came from a village in the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range, Syrian Coastal Mount ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Syrian Republic
The Second Syrian Republic, officially the Syrian Republic from 1950 to 1958 and the Syrian Arab Republic from 1961 to 1963, succeeded the First Syrian Republic that had become ''de facto'' independent in April 1946 from the French Mandate. The Second Republic was founded on the Syrian Constitution of 1950, which was suspended from 1950 to 1954 under Adib Shishakli's strongmanship, and later when Syria joined with the Republic of Egypt in forming the United Arab Republic in 1958. The Second Republic resumed when Syria withdrew from the union in 1961. In 1963, the Syrian Ba'athist Party came to power in a bloodless military coup, which laid the foundations for the political structure in Ba'athist Syria. The green, white, black and red flag is the first flag of the Syrian Arab Republic and with the shortest usage, that being from 1961 to 1963. It was also the flag of the Syrian opposition during the Syrian civil war, and became the official flag of Syria anew in 2025. B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ali Al-Assad
Ali ibn Sulayman al-Assad ( ''né'' al-Wahhish; 18751963) was a Syrian farmer and tribal leader who was respectively the father and grandfather of Syrian Presidents Hafez al-Assad, in power from 1971 to 2000, and Bashar al-Assad, in power from 2000 to 2024. Personal life Ali ibn Sulayman al-Wahhish was the son of Sulayman ibn Ahmed ibn Ibrahim ibn Sulayman al-Wahhish. The al-Assad family lived in Qardaha, an Alawite town in the mountainous Latakia Sanjak of the Ottoman Empire. They were members of the Alawite Kalbiyya tribe. Ali was known for protecting the weak and in the 1920s had assisted refugees fleeing the former province of Aleppo when France gave parts of it to Turkey. He was one of the few literate Alawites in his village and the only man in the village to subscribe to a newspaper. For his accomplishments, Ali was called ''al-Assad'' ("the Lion") by his fellow Alawites, and made the nickname his surname in 1927. Ali married two times and over three decades had ele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ribal Al-Assad
Ribal al-Assad (; born 4 June 1975) is a Syrian businessman and political activist. He is the founder and director of the Organisation for Freedom and Democracy in Syria, Organisation for Democracy and Freedom in Syria (ODFS) and the chairman and founder of the Iman Foundation. Early life and family Ribal al-Assad was born in Damascus, the 13th of 16 siblings. He is the son of Rifaat al-Assad and his third wife Line Al-Khayer, sister-in-law of the late Saudi Arabia, Saudi King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, king Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, and is thus a member of the Assad family. His father, Rifaat al-Assad, a younger brother of President Hafez al-Assad, was a security chief and commander of the Defense Companies (Syria), Defense Companies, who was responsible for the 1982 Hama massacre. After attempting a coup d'état, he and his family went into exile in France, then the UK. Ribal, at the age of 9, and his family then moved to Paris, where he continued to live until the age of 16. At th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1999 Latakia Protests
The 1999 Latakia protests (or 1999 Latakia incident)George, Alan. ''Syria: neither bread nor freedom.'' 2003. p.115. were violent protests and armed clashes, which erupted in Latakia, Syria following the 1998 People's Assembly's elections. The violent events were an explosion of a long-running feud between Hafez al-Assad and his younger brother Rifaat. Two people were killed in fire exchanges between Syrian police and Rifaat's supporters during a police crack-down on Rifaat's port compound in Latakia. According to opposition sources, which were denied by the government, the protests left hundreds dead or injured.Taylor & Francis Group. ''Europea World Year Book 2004''. Europa Publications, 2004. Volume 2, p.4056 Background Attempted 1984 coup d'etat When Hafez al-Assad suffered from heart problems in 1983, he established a six-member committee to run the country. Rifaat was not included, whereas the council consisted entirely of Sunni Muslim loyalists close to Hafez. This ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1984 Syrian Coup Attempt
The 1984 Syrian coup attempt refers to the events in March during which Rifaat al-Assad unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow his brother, Syrian President Hafez al-Assad. During these events, tens of thousands of soldiers with armored vehicles (some supported Rifaat, some supported Hafez) gathered in the capital Damascus and were on the verge of military clashes (which did not happen). Background Hafez al-Assad came to power in 1970 after the " Corrective Movement". Al-Assad created a military dictatorship (much stronger than his predecessors) with a cult of personality around Assad family, his family. In the new regime Presidency of Hafez al-Assad, built by Hafez, Rifaat played a huge role, commanding the Defence Brigades, Defense Brigades, an all-Alawites, Alawite paramilitary force independent of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, Syrian Arab Army and responsible for defending Damascus from internal and external attacks. General Rifaat became a powerful figure in the Ba'ath P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1982 Hama Massacre
The Hama massacre () occurred in February 1982 when the Syrian Arab Army and the Defense Companies paramilitary force, under the orders of President Hafez al-Assad, besieged the town of Hama for 27 days in order to quell an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood against the Ba'athist government. Fisk 2010 MEMRI 2002 The campaign that had begun in 1976 by Sunni Muslim groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, was brutally crushed in an anti-Sunni massacre at Hama, carried out by the Syrian Arab Army and Alawite militias under the command of Major General Rifaat al-Assad. Prior to the start of operations, Hafez al-Assad issued orders to seal off Hama from the outside world; effectively imposing a media blackout, total shut down of communications, electricity and food supplies to the city for months. Initial diplomatic dispatches released in Western media outlets assessed that 1,000 people were killed. Subsequent estimates vary, with the lower ones reporting at least 10,000 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Islamist Uprising In Syria
The Islamist uprising in Syria comprised a series of protests, assassinations, bombings, and armed revolts led by Sunni Islamists, mainly members of the Fighting Vanguard and, after 1979, the Muslim Brotherhood, from 1976 until 1982. The uprising aimed to establish an Islamic republic in Syria by overthrowing the neo-Ba'athist government, in what was described by the Ba'ath Party as a "long campaign of terror". After 1980, the popular resistance to Ba'athist rule expanded, with a coalition of Islamist opposition groups coordinating nation-wide strikes, protests and revolts throughout Syria. During the violent events, resistance militias attacked Syrian Arab Army bases and carried out political assassinations of Ba'ath party cadres, army officials, Soviet military advisors, and bureaucrats linked to Assad family. Civilians were also killed in retaliatory strikes conducted by security forces. The uprising reached its climax in the 1982 Hama massacre, during which the Syrian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the Lebanese people played a notable role in the lead-up to and during the conflict: Lebanese Christians and Lebanese Sunni Muslims comprised the majority in the coastal cities; Lebanese Shia Muslims were primarily based throughout southern Lebanon and in the Beqaa Valley in the east; and Lebanese Druze, Druze and Christians populated the country's mountainous areas. At the time, the Lebanese government was under the influence of elites within the Maronite Christian community. The link between politics and religion was reinforced under the Greater Lebanon, French Mandate from 1920 to 1943, and the country's parliamentary structure favoured a leading position for Lebanese Christians, who constituted the majority of the population. However, Leban ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and Syria. Most of the fighting occurred in the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights, territories Israeli-occupied territories, occupied by Israel in 1967. Some combat also took place in mainland Geography of Egypt, Egypt and Northern District (Israel), northern Israel. Egypt aimed to secure a foothold on the eastern bank of the Suez Canal and use it to negotiate the return of the Israeli occupation of the Sinai Peninsula, Sinai Peninsula. The war started on 6 October 1973, when the Arab coalition launched a surprise attack across their respective frontiers during the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, which coincided with the 10th day of Ramadan. The United States and Soviet Union engaged in massive resupply efforts for their allies (Israel and the A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corrective Movement (Syria)
The Corrective Movement (), also referred to as the Corrective Revolution or the 1970 coup, was a bloodless military coup d'état led by General Hafez al-Assad on 13 November 1970 in Syria. Assad promised to sustain and improve the " nationalist socialist line" of the state and the Ba'ath Party. The Ba'ath party adopted an ideological revision, absolving itself of Salah Jadid's doctrine of exporting revolutions. The new doctrine placed emphasis on defeating Israel, by developing the Syrian military with the support of the Soviet Union. Assad would rule Ba'athist Syria until his death in 2000, after which he was succeeded by his son Bashar al-Assad who in turn ruled until the collapse of his regime in December 2024. Events Assad started planning to seize power shortly after the failed Syrian military intervention in the Black September crisis in Jordan. While Assad had been in ''de facto'' command of Syrian politics since 1969, Salah Jadid and his supporters still held ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June 1967. Military hostilities broke out amid poor relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors, which had been observing the 1949 Armistice Agreements signed at the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, First Arab–Israeli War. In 1956, regional tensions over the Straits of Tiran (giving access to Eilat, a port on the southeast tip of Israel) escalated in what became known as the Suez Crisis, when Israel invaded Egypt over the Israeli passage through the Suez Canal and Straits of Tiran, Egyptian closure of maritime passageways to Israeli shipping, ultimately resulting in the re-opening of the Straits of Tiran to Israel as well as the deployment of the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) along the Borders of Israel#Border with Egypt, Egypt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
