Ali Haydar (Syrian army officer)

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For other uses, see Ali Haidar (disambiguation).

Ali Haydar
Native name
علي حيدر‎
Born1932 (1932)
Major General
Unit14th Special Forces Division
Commands heldSpecial Forces Command (1968–1988, 1990–1994)
Battles/wars

Ali Haydar (

Arabic: علي حيدر‎; 1932 – 5 August 2022), known as the "Father of the Syrian Special Forces", was a Syrian military officer who was the commander of the Syrian Special Forces for 26 years. He was a close confidant to President Hafez al-Assad and one of the members of Assad's inner circle. Born in the village of Hallet Ara, Haydar was a member of the Ba'ath Party from his youth. He was commissioned into the Syrian Army in 1952 after a stint studying at the Homs Military Academy. After the Ba'ath Party seized power in a 1963 coup d'état, Haydar was put in charge of Syria's special forces and supported al-Assad in his rise to the presidency. During this time he was deployed to Lebanon during their civil war. Haydar opposed the 1984 coup d'état attempt led by Rifaat al-Assad, instead remaining loyal to Hafez al-Assad. After suffering an aneurysm and leaving his post in 1988, he returned to lead the special forces again in the early 1990s. At the time a Major General, he was formally removed from his position and then imprisoned in August 1994, though he was treated well during his brief prison stay and was released without a trial or public humiliation. Haydar died in Latakia
at the age of 90.

Early life and family

Haydar was born in 1932 in the village of

French administration in Syria.[1]

It is not quite clear which Alawite tribe Haydar belonged to, and different sources either cite him as being a member of the

Assad family belongs.[3] or possibly to the Haddadin tribe, to which Salah Jadid and Hafez al-Assad's wife Anisa Makhlouf belonged.[4][5][6] His father was a religious sheikh. His uncle, Ahmad Mohammad Haydar, was also a well-known sheikh who advocated for Alawites to abandon superstitions and blend with mainstream Islam.[6]

He was a childhood friend of Hafez al-Assad.[7]

Two of his five children married outside the Alawite faith, with his son marrying a Sunni and his daughter marrying a Shiite.[7]

Career

Haydar joined the Ba'ath Party of Michel Aflaq as a schoolboy and was commissioned as an infantry officer in the Syrian Army in 1952, after studying at the Homs Military Academy.[1]

The Ba'ath Party came to power in Syria following the

1970 Syrian Corrective Revolution, which brought Hafez to power. Haydar provided military support for Hafez during the coup, helping to oust Salah Jadid and President Nureddin al-Atassi.[8]

Haydar remained as Commander of the Special Forces under Hafez, and emerged as a key figure in Hafez's inner circle, and was one of Hafez's most loyal officers.

artillery capabilities which Rifaat's forces had. Instead, its specialization was in anti-Tank operations and sniper warfare. Haydar pioneered very aggressive tactics and training, and the Syrian special forces' snipers and their sniper doctrine and tactics acquired a fearsome reputation which persists to this day.[8]

Under Haydar, the Special Forces units were deployed to Lebanon as part of the Syrian intervention in the Lebanese Civil War. During the war they engaged with PLO units under the command of Yasser Arafat.[8]

Haydar left his command in 1988 following an aneurysm, although later returned to his post in the early 1990s. He totally rejected any form of peace with Israel at the Madrid Conference of 1991.[8]

Haydar was deployed to Lebanon in 1982 following the Israeli offensive, with his Special Forces engaging the IDF. The Special Forces played a key role during the war, and were mainly stationed in Bhamdun and Tripoli.[8] They also remained a key component of the Syrian government's defenses against internal and external threats, with units stationed on Mount Qasioun overlooking Damascus, and in the port city of Tartus.[8]

1984 coup attempt

Hafez al-Assad fell ill in November 1983, and Rifaat al-Assad began planning a coup to seize the Presidency. Haydar was close to Rifaat, however he fiercely refused when Rifaat asked him to support him in the coup. Haydar reportedly said:

"I recognise no leader in the country other than Hafez al-Assad! What I have of power and prestige I owe to him. I am a soldier in his service and a slave to his beck and call. While I am alive I bear obedience to him and will not fall away from him."[8]

Haydar's staunch refusal to partake in any coup reinforced his loyalty in Hafez's eyes. Haydar later confronted Rifaat in March 1984, when Rifaat attempted his coup. The Defense Companies under Rifaat's command began setting up checkpoints and roadblocks in Damascus, began to forcibly occupy State buildings, Police Stations, began to disarm the Police, and even tried to infiltrate his forces into the Defence Ministry HQ. Haydar deployed his Special Forces against the Defense Companies of Rifaat on the streets of Damascus, using his Anti-Tank platoons to directly challenge Rifaat's T-72 Tank units which were threatening government buildings. Haydar also ordered his sniper platoons which were deployed by parachute or from helicopters, to take up key positions near the residences of known Defense Company commanders in order to psychologically terrorize them. Sniper units also tactically besieged the Mezzeh Airbase and some other vital Defense Company bases and installations. Potential civil war was only averted through the action of Hafez, who intervened and placated Rifaat by making him Vice President, before sending him off into exile.[8]

Arrest and retirement

Haydar, a Major General,

Washington DC.[8]

His arrest and imprisonment happened during a restructuring of the Syrian Army designed to remove influential Alawite military leaders and in turn pave the way for the succession of the

Christian Science Monitor suggested Habib was chosen due to having shown himself willing to follow Hafez's orders in the Gulf War, as it showed commitment to Hafez's command over long standing Ba'athist ideological positions against what it saw as Western Imperialism.[5]

Despite his detention, Haydar was never brought to trial or publicly humiliated, but was instead well treated in his brief captivity before being released and retired. He remained an important figure in the Syrian Ba'ath Party and the Syrian Army until Hafez's death in 2000.[8] He attended Hafez's funeral and publicly pledged allegiance to Bashar as the new president. Haydar then retired to his hometown of Hallet Ara and became deeply religious in his last years.[6]

Death

Ali Haydar died in Latakia, Syria, on 5 August 2022.[12]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9781885942418
    .
  2. S2CID 154739379. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  3. S2CID 154739379. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  4. ^
    ISBN 9781555876470
    .
  5. ^ a b c d "Syria's Praetorian Guards: A Primer". Middle East Intelligence Bulletin. 5 August 2000. Archived from the original on 4 July 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  6. ^ a b c "The Passing of a Syrian General Famed for Brutality". New Lines Magazine. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  7. ^
    ISBN 9780801439407
    .
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Sami M., Moubayed (2006). Steel and Silk. Cune Press. p. 55.
  9. ^ Shibley, Barnett; Michael N., Telhami (2002). Identity and Foreign Policy in the Middle East. Cornell University Press. p. 151.
  10. ^ a b c "Assad Nudges Syria Closer To Peace Deal With Israel". The Christian Science Monitor. 30 August 1994. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  11. ISBN 0815752067
    .
  12. ^ "رفض توريث بشار الأسد الحكم في سورية وسخر منه.. وفاة اللواء علي حيدر بعد نحو ثلاثة عقود من إزاحته". syriahr.com (in Arabic). 5 August 2022. Archived from the original on 5 August 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
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