According to Patrick Seale’s The Struggle for Syria,
Husni al-Za’im (who had been the Syrian Army’s Chief of Staff--although just a
colonel prior to his Mar. 29-30, 1949 coup) was initially “supported by a
handful of nationalist officers and radical politicians” in Syria; and
apparently al-Za’im’s March 1949 military coup was also supported by the
Democratic Truman Administration. As David Lesch’s Syria and The United States
noted, “the United States intervened in Syria in early 1949 to place an
individual in power who American officials admitted was a `Banana Republic
dictator type’ who `did not have the competence of a French corporal’ but did
have a `strong anti-Soviet attitude’ and showed he was willing to talk peace
with Israel;” and “in assisting General Husni al-Zai’im to overthrow the
discredited Shukri al-Quwatli regime in March 1949, the United States felt it
was riding a wave of popular discontent in Syria.”
The same book also observed that “Za’im was all and more of
what the United States thought he could be” and “he concluded an armistice
agreement with Israel.., approved the TAPLINE (Trans-Arabian Oil Pipeline)
concession which transported ARAMCO (Arab-American Oil Company) oil from Saudi
Arabia to the Mediterranean, cracked down on communists and leftists in Syria,
and displayed a willingness to accept American military assistance…”
According to The Struggle For Syria, “to seize
power, Za’im had harnessed the resentment of a group of nationalist officers”
and “`Palestine’ had been the magic slogan with which he had won the dissident
army to his cause.” Yet after the French government whose troops had occupied
Syria until 1946 also expressed support for Za’im’s new regime in early April
1949, “the eagerness with which Zai’m” then “sought to conclude an armistice”
with the Israeli government “came as a shock to his entourage,” who also
thought “his alliance with the French was too blatant,” according to the same
book.
In addition, after Za’im’s new Syrian military coup regime
began formal talks with the Israeli government in April 1949, “most sources agree
that the” then-monarchist but still anti-Zionist “Iraq government, displeased
with Za’im’s attitude…and impatient to see established in Damascus a government
more friendly to itself, was ready to bring him down,” according to The
Struggle For Syria; and the then-monarchist Iraqi government got “in
touch with a group of Syrian officers and politicians who included the
commander of the First Brigade, Colonel Sami al-Hinnawi,” according to the same
book.
So, not surprisingly, the following happened in August 1949
in Damascus, a week after “Colonel Hinnawi moved” a column of his troops
“within 20 miles of Damascus, on the pretext that the armoured cars, recently
withdrawn from the first [brigade], needed servicing,” according to The
Struggle For Syria:
“…A few hours before dawn on Aug. 14 1949, the column moved
on the capital…Small detachments of 2 or 3 vehicles made for the houses of
Prime Minister…and police headquarters.., radio station, and central bank. Lt.
Fadlallah Abu Mansar led a task force of 6 armored cars…to the presidential
residence…Fadlallah shot his way in and confronted Za’im in pajamas in the
hall…Za’im was bundled into an armored car…The High Command had sentenced
[Syrian President] Za’im and [then-Syrian prime minister Mashind] Barazi to
death…They were then shot and the news of the coup was announced to the
public.”
But on Dec. 19, 1949, another Syrian colonel named Adib
al-Shishakli “engineered the third coup’d’etat within a year,” according to Syria
and the United States; and “there is some indication that the United
States might have encouraged Shishakli’s coup, although it is not yet known
what role, if any, it played.” And after December 1949, “Shishakli chose to
rule behind the throne (manipulating 7 different civilian cabinets in the next
23 months) until late 1951, when he came out in the open and established a
military dictatorship,” according to the same book. As The Struggle For Syria
observed:
“…Adib al-Shishakli…was the dominant…influence on Syrian
affairs from his first coup in December 1949 to his fall in February
1954…Shishakli’s rule made the Syrian army an unashamedly political instrument…
“To quell any opposition, the Government in mid-January 1952
ordered the dissolution of the Syrian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, closing
its offices and schools throughout the country. Similar repressive measures
were taken against Faysal al-`Aval’s Socialist Cooperative Party. Civil
servants and trade unionists were prohibited from taking part in political
activity, a measure which was followed in April [1952] by a general ban on all
political parties…Shishakli had, within 6 months, set up a highly centralized
dictatorship, silencing his critics by traditional police methods…”
So, not surprisingly, an unsuccessful attempt was made in
December 1952 to overthrow Shishakli in another military coup that was
“allegedly initiated” by the anti-imperialist, socialist, non-communist,
pan-Arab nationalist Baath party leaders, Salah al-Din Biter and Michel Afleq,
according to David Lesch’s Syria and The United States; and “by
the beginning of 1953 Shishakli was still without any significant organized
political support,” according to the same book.
(end of part 14)
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