Ahmad al-Suwaydani (; 1932–1994) was the

Syrian Army The Syrian Army is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. Up until the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Arab Army existed as a land force branch of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, which dominanted the military service of the fo ...

's chief of staff from 1966 to 1968. He was best known for uncovering Israeli spy

Eli Cohen Eliyahu Ben-Shaul Cohen (‎; ‎; 26 December 1924 – 18 May 1965) was an Egyptian-born Israeli spy. He is best known for his espionage work in Syria between 1961 and 1965, where he developed close relationships with the Syrian poli ...

’s plan. Before that he had been the chief of military intelligence in 1963–1965 and the head of the bureau of military personnel in 1965–1966. He was dismissed and imprisoned for suspicions of plotting a coup in 1968. In 1994 he was released and died shortly after.

Early life

Ahmad was born in 1932 in

Nawa Nawa may refer to: Places * NAWA, abbreviation of "North Africa and West Asia" Afghanistan * Nawa District, a district in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan * Nawa, Afghanistan, a town in the central part of Nawa District, in Ghazni Province, A ...

. He belonged to the Bani Suwaydan, a

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

clan of the

Hauran The Hauran (; also spelled ''Hawran'' or ''Houran'') is a region that spans parts of southern Syria and northern Jordan. It is bound in the north by the Ghouta oasis, to the northeast by the al-Safa field, to the east and south by the Harrat ...

. In the 17th century, before the town of

al-Suwayda Suwayda (), also spelled Sweida, is a mainly Druze city located in southern Syria, close to the border with Jordan. It is the capital of Suwayda Governorate, one of Syria's 14 governorates, bordering Jordan in the South, Daraa Governorate ...

had become a predominantly

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

center, the headmen of the town often hailed from the Bani Suwaydan. Ahmad's father was a peasant, though relatively better off than most of the peasants of Nawa and a member of the village's notable class.

Military career

Ahmad graduated from the

Homs Military Academy Homs Military Academy () is a military educational and training institution located in Homs, Syria. History Establishment Homs Military Academy was founded in 1933 by France during the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon. During the period of Fren ...

and joined the

Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...

. In 1963–1965, he served as the chief of the military intelligence directorate. During this time he helped finance and provide arms to the Palestinian armed movement

Fatah Fatah ( ; ), formally the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (), is a Palestinian nationalist and Arab socialist political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

, cooperating particularly with

Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...

and

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(Abu Iyad). In 1965 he also became head of the bureau of military personnel. He became closely allied with President

Amin al-Hafiz Amin may refer to: People * Amin (name), a masculine given name and also a surname * Al-Amin, sixth Abbasid caliph, who ruled from 809 to 813 * Amin (Qing dynasty), Imperial Prince of the Qing Dynasty * Idi Amin (c. 1925–2003), military ruler ...

and Chief of Staff

Salah Jadid Salah Jadid (; 1926 – 19 August 1993) was a Syrian military officer and politician who was the leader of the far-left bloc of the Syrian Regional Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, and the ''de facto'' leader of Ba'athist Syria from 1966 until 1970 ...

. Ahmad participated in the 1966 Syrian coup d'etat which installed

Nureddin al-Atassi Nureddin Mustafa Ali al-Atassi (, 11 January 1929 – 3 December 1992) was a Syrian politician who served as the president of Syria from 1966 to 1970. Early life and education Nureddin Al-Atassi, born in 1929 in Homs to an Arab family, and b ...

as president with Jadid effectively as the country's strongman. Ahmad was then promoted to the rank of major-general and appointed by Jadid as chief of staff. He held this post during Syria's defeat by Israel in the

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 states, primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June 1967. Military hostilities broke ...

of 1967. Ahmad blamed Defense Minister

Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad (6 October 193010 June 2000) was a Syrian politician and military officer who was the president of Syria from 1971 until Death and state funeral of Hafez al-Assad, his death in 2000. He was previously the Prime Minister of Syria ...

for the loss of the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...

to Israeli forces, and a quarrel erupted within the Syrian high command. Ahmad penned a report denouncing Assad, but the latter countered with allegations that Ahmed was fomenting a coup in collaboration with some 100 officers from the Hauran. As a result of Assad's and Jadid's suspicions, Jadid dismissed Ahmad in February 1968.

Arrest and imprisonment

During a flight Ahmad was taking from

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

in July 1969, his plane was forced to take an emergency landing by the Syrian authorities in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, whereupon he was arrested. Afterward, all his loyalists from the

were dismissed from the officer corps. He remained imprisoned through the presidency of Hafez al-Assad until his release in February 1994. Soon after his release, in the same year, he died in his hometown.

Media depictions

Ahmed Suwaydani was portrayed by

Alexander Siddig Siddig el-Fadil (born 21 November 1965) is a British actor and director, known professionally as Alexander Siddig. Siddig is best known for his roles as Dr. Julian Bashir in the television series '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', former terrori ...

in the Netflix TV series '' The Spy''.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Suwaydani, Anmad 1932 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Syrian politicians Chiefs of staff of the Syrian Army People from Nawa Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region politicians Political prisoners in Syria Homs Military Academy alumni