Hafez al Assad

Hafez alAssad was a Syrian statesman, politician and general who was President of Syria from 1971 to 2000, Prime Minister from 1970 to 1971, Regional Secretary of the Regional Command of the Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Baath Party and Secretary General of the National Command of the Baath Party from 1971 to 2000. He participated in the 1963 Syrian coup dtat which brought the Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Baath Party to power, and was appointed Commander of the Syrian Air Force by the new leadership. In 1966, Assad participated in a second coup, which toppled the traditional leaders of the Baath Party, and brought a radical military faction headed by Salah Jadid to power. Assad was appointed defense minister by the new government. In 1970 Assad seized power by toppling Jadid, and appointed himself the undisputed leader of Syria in the period 19701971.

Hafez was born onOctober 1930 in Qardaha to an Alawite family of the Kalbiyya tribe. His parents were Nasa and Ali Sulayman alAssad Hafez was Alis ninth son, and the fourth from his second marriage. Sulayman married twice, had eleven children and was known for his strength and shooting abilities locals nicknamed him Wahhish . By the 1920s he was respected locally, and like many others he initially opposed the French Mandate for Syria. Nevertheless, Ali Sulayman later cooperated with the French administration and was appointed to an official post. In 1936, he was one of 80 Alawite notables who signed a letter addressed to the French Prime Minister saying that Alawi people rejected attachment to Syria and wished to stay under French protection. For his accomplishments, he was called alAssad by local residents and made the nickname his surname in 1927.

Source: Wikipedia