Jassem Alwan

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Jassem Alwan
جاسم علوان
Lieutenant Colonel

Jassem Alwan (

Arabic: جاسم علوان, Jāsim ʿAlwān) (born 4 July 1928 – died 3 January 2018 in Cairo[1]) was a prominent Syrian Army colonel, particularly during the period of the United Arab Republic (UAR) (1958–1961) when he served as the Commander of the Qatana Base near Damascus. Alwan, a staunch supporter of UAR President Gamal Abdel Nasser
, opposed Syria's secession from the union in 1961, leading two failed coup attempts to overthrow the secessionist government in 1962.

He participated in the

Baathist-led 8 March coup that toppled President Nazim al-Qudsi in 1963, but after a Baathist attempt to purge Nasserist officers from the military, Alwan led an insurrection against the new government. It failed, and resulted in Alwan's imprisonment and sentencing to death until he was released in 1964 upon the intervention of Nasser and other Arab presidents. Alwan's aborted counter-coup was a significant episode leading to the deterioration of ties between the governments of Egypt
and Syria. From then on, Alwan lived in Egypt where he continued his activism against the Baathist government until he returned to Syria in 2005.

Early life and career

Alwan was born to a

ethnoreligious minorities in the graduating class to an "absolute minimum", a request Alwan rejected.[3] Student officers who attended his class included prominent future military figures, such as President Hafez al-Assad, and generals Ali Aslan and Muhammad Nabhan, all of whom were Alawites.[3] Throughout the 1950s, Alwan had been involved in the Arab nationalist movement spearheaded by Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser.[4]

Military career

Commander of Qatana Base

When Syria and Egypt merged to form the

Dumayr base before taking the capital. However, the Qatana units acted without Alwan's knowledge,[6] and he consequently blamed himself for the coup's success, concluding that he could have prevented it had he taken up his post in Qatana.[4]

Opposition to secession

Alwan opposed the secessionist government of President

Military Committee and politically independent unionist officers led by Ziad al-Hariri was formed to remove Kudsi's administration and install a pro-union government. While the unionist coup was planned for 2 April 1962, the Nasserist officers under Alwan's leadership made their move on 31 March, launching the revolt from the army garrison in Homs. However, no other army units joined in to back the uprising, resulting in its quick end. A divided military and an unstable political situation prevented the government from pursuing decisive action against the coup officers. Instead, on 1 April, an agreement to between the military factions to deal with the coup participants peacefully was devised in Homs, whereby Abd al-Karim al-Nahlawi (the officer who staged the secessionist coup, but soon after joined the pro-unionist officers), Alwan and a small number of officers loyal to them would be exiled.[8]

The 1 April proposal was rejected outright by Alwan who proceeded to encourage his independent and Baathist allies in the officer corps to move ahead with the original coup plan.

al-Suwayda (led by Salah Jadid) and the Israeli front,[10] refrained from backing the coup at the last minute, fearing the consequences of a quick reunification with the UAR and suspicious of Alwan's intentions based on his earlier coup attempt. Although, the Ba'ath Party was dissolved by Nasser during the UAR period and its leadership had initially supported Syria's secession, Baathist officers openly supported reunification efforts. However, their withdrawal from the planned coup revealed the conflicting feelings among the Baathists towards the reestablishment of the UAR, with many still opposed to an unconditional union with Nasser. As a consequence of the Baathist pull-out, Alwan's uprising failed once more and he was subsequently exiled to Lebanon.[11]

Coup d'etat of 1963 and counter coup

Main article: 1963 Syrian coup d'état § Immediate aftermath
a monument to Alwan in his native Deir ez-Zor

A pan-Arabist coalition of officers led by the Baathists and joined by the Nasserists, including Alwan,[13] managed to successfully overthrow the government in Damascus on 8 March 1963, establishing the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC)—a body dominated by Baathists, but also including several Nasserists—to temporarily govern the country.[14] On 17 April a unity agreement between Egypt, Iraq and Syria was signed, stipulating a federal system with Nasser as president. Weeks later, dozens of Nasserist officers were purged by the Baathists, and the Nasserist members of the government consequently resigned.[15] At this time, Alwan, disappointed that the Military Committee was neither interested in a genuine power-sharing agreement nor having Nasser preside over Syria, initiated plans with the ANM and Egyptian intelligence officers to remove the Baathist government.[13]

Despite the purges and resignations, Nasserist officers still maintained a relatively strong position in the military, and on 18 July, Alwan, who had since returned from exile, led his third coup attempt.[16] His forces launched daytime assaults on the Army General Headquarters and the broadcast station in Damascus.[17][16] The Baathist Interior Minister Amin al-Hafiz personally defended the army headquarters and the ensuing battle resulted in hundreds of casualties, including several civilian bystanders.[17][13] Eventually pro-Baathist units and the party's National Guard quelled the rebellion.[17]

Alwan's operation ended in major bloodshed and at least 27 participating officers were arrested and executed.

Houari Boumediene of Algeria and President Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia resulted in his release on 5 December.[13][21] Alwan, al-Maarri, al-Nabhan and the co-accused Palestinian participants were exiled and three days later were escorted to the border with Lebanon, from which they headed to Egypt's embassy in Beirut.[22]

The failure of Alwan's revolt marked the end of significant Nasserist influence in Syria's military and civilian institutions and with the pro-Nasser forces largely defeated, the Military Committee of the Ba'ath Party became the sole power center of the country.[16]

Exile in Egypt and return to Syria

Alwan was given asylum in Egypt by Nasser where he continued his activities against the Baathist government in Syria.

Arab Socialist Union's Syrian branch (ASU).[23][24] Later, after Amin al-Hafiz, who had succeeded Lu'ay al-Atassi as president, was overthrown by a regionalist faction of the Ba'ath Party (as opposed to the pan-Arabist faction to which Hafiz belonged) led by Salah Jadid and Hafez al-Assad in February 1966, Alwan eventually joined Hafiz, his former enemy, to establish a diverse coalition of dissidents opposed to the ruling Baathists of Syria.[13]

In 1982, Syrian dissidents formed an opposition coalition in

Muslim Brotherhood's Syrian faction and the Islamic Front led by Sheikh Abdul Fatah Abu Ghuda.[25][26] They were financially supported by President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.[13] In November 1984, Alwan attended a conference of the Palestinian National Council (PNC), leading a delegation of 13 NALS coalition members. Most of the group's activities centered on attempts to de-legitimize the government of President Hafez al-Assad,[26]
who had ascended to the presidency in a 1970 coup.

Iraqi funding for the dissident coalition's members in Egypt, like Alwan, ended as a result of Egyptian president

better source needed
]

References

  1. ^ "Syrian politicians recall mass adoration of Nasser". gulfnews.com. 14 January 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-06-18. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  2. ^ Petran, 1972, p. 157.
  3. ^ a b c Van Dam, 1996, p. 29.
  4. ^ a b c d e Moubayed, p. 37.
  5. ^ Simon, Mattar, Bulliet, 1996, p. 132.
  6. ^ Oron, 1961, p. 607.
  7. ^ Seale, 2004, p. 69.
  8. ^ Mufti, p. 137.
  9. ^ Mufti, pp. 137-138.
  10. ^ a b c Rabinovich, p. 34.
  11. ^ a b c Mufti, p. 138.
  12. ^ "Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies". 7–8. Pakistan American Foundation. 1985: 314. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h Moubayed, p. 38.
  14. ^ Mufti, pp. 147-148.
  15. ^ Mufti, p. 153.
  16. ^ a b c d Mufti, p. 157.
  17. ^ a b c d Seale, p. 83.
  18. ^ Rabinovich, p. 70.
  19. ^ Jassim Alwan Interview Part 2. Al Jazeera.
  20. ^ Chronology of Arab Politics. 1. Political Studies and Public Administration Department of the American University of Beirut. 1963. p. 263 and p. 393.
  21. ^ Chronology of Arab Politics Archived 2023-04-02 at the Wayback Machine. 2. Political Studies and Public Administration Department of the American University of Beirut. 1964. p. 377 and p. 412.
  22. ^ Mideast Mirror. 16. Arab News Agency. 1964. Page 78.
  23. ^ Mideast Mirror. (1965). p. 22.
  24. ^ "Chronology of Arab Politics". 3 (3–4). Political Studies and Public Administration Department of the American University of Beirut. 1965: 228–229. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  25. ^ Ismael, 1998, p. 197.
  26. ^ a b Rabinovich, 1987, p. 648.
  27. ^ Moubayed, Sami. Soft de-Baathification in Syria Archived 2009-07-27 at the Wayback Machine. Al-Ahram Weekly. Al-Ahram Organisation. 2005-05-18.
  28. ^ Syrian Revolution : Military operations stopped in Hama but the death machine is still on Archived 2013-03-25 at the Wayback Machine. Egyptian Chronicles. 2011-08-10.

Bibliography

External links
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