Sabri al-Asali

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Sabri al-Asali
صبري العسلي
Adib al-Shishakli
Succeeded bySaid al-Ghazzi
Vice President of the United Arab Republic
In office
7 March 1958 – 7 October 1958
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byAkram al-Hawrani
Personal details
Born1903
Damascus, Ottoman Syria
Died13 April 1976 (aged 72–73)
Damascus, Syria
Political partyNational Bloc
National Party

Sabri al-Asali (

prime minister of Syria. He also served as vice-president of the United Arab Republic
in 1958.

Early life

Al-Asali was born into a wealthy landowning family in Damascus. The Al-Asalis originated from the village of

Jamal Pasha, on 6 May 1916.[2]

Sabri al-Asali attended

Abd al-Aziz, alongside another exiled Syrian leader, Shukri al-Quwatli.[2]

Political career

French Mandate

Al-Asali and Quwatli returned to Syria in 1932 following a general amnesty. In 1933 al-Asali, along with a number of influential Arab thinkers, became a founding member and general-secretary of the

Arab countries.[2]

In 1936 Quwatli invited al-Asali to join the

Faris al-Khoury, and later he became minister of justice and education. In the cabinet of Saadallah al-Jabiri that was formed in October 1945, al-Asali again held the portfolios of justice and education. Al-Asali was part of the Syrian delegation that attended the founding of the Arab League in Cairo in 1945.[2]

Independence

Syria regained its independence in April 1946, and al-Jabiri formed the first cabinet in post-occupation Syria, appointing al-Asali as minister of interior where he served until November 1946. When the National Bloc split to form two competing parties, the

Hashemite influence in Syria.[2]

In 1948 al-Asali was again appointed the interior portfolio by Prime Minister

Baath Party, whose arrest prompted dissent inside the cabinet and the resignation of Lutfi al-Haffar, Mardam Bey's deputy. As the turmoil spread further, al-Asali deployed the army in the streets. He became very unpopular and only narrowly survived several attempts on his life in 1948. In 1949 Chief of Staff Husni al-Za'im led a military coup that overthrew the Quwatli government. Al-Asali, along with most of Quwatli's associates, was arrested. He remained under house arrest until al-Za'im's government was overthrown by another military coup. Under the military government of Adib Shishakli, al-Asali allied himself with former president Hashim al-Atassi and conspired to bring down the Shishakli government, and restore a civilian administration to Syria.[2]

Premiership

The Shishakli government was overthrown by a military coup in 1954. Al-Atassi was elected president and he asked al-Asali to form a cabinet. His tenure saw the assassination of Colonel Adnan al-Malki, the deputy-chief of staff, by a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP). The "Malki affair" caused outrage in the military. Al-Asali appointed Abdel Hamid al-Sarraj to lead an official tribunal which identified the SSNP with backing of the United States as the main culprits. The SSNP was outlawed and its entire leadership was arrested. During his first term as prime minister, al-Asali allied himself with the strong military, which secured him a second term in 1956.[2]

Nasserism

Al-Asali stands next to Syrian president al-Quwatli (seated left) who, alongside Egyptian president Nasser (seated right), is signing the agreement uniting Egypt and Syria to form the United Arab Republic, 1958

Al-Asali spearheaded the

Gamal Abd al-Nasser, on 1 February 1958. Al-Asali was appointed vice-president by Nasser the following day.[2]

In 1959 released documents from 1951 appeared to link him with the Iraqi government. His opponents accused him of receiving illicit funds and forced him to resign. In 1960 Al-Asali joined the Syrian opposition to the Nasser government and accused Nasser of establishing dictatorial rule in Syria. He supported the 1961 coup d'état that ended the union and signed the secession declaration.[2]

Later years

During the secession years al-Asali was elected to parliament but never served in any cabinet. Following the

1963 Baathi coup d'état, Sabri al-Asali, considered a collaborator with the secessionist government, had his property confiscated and his civil rights revoked. He retired from public life and died in Damascus on 13 April 1976.[2]

References

  1. ^ al-Zirikli, Khayr al-Din (2002). الأعلام : قاموس تراجم لأشهر الرجال والنساء من العرب والمستعربين والمستشرقين [Notable People: A dictionary of biographies of the most famous Arab, Arabist and Orientalist men and women] (in Arabic). Vol. 3 (15 ed.). Beirut: دار العلم للملايين. p. 172.
  2. ^
    ISBN 1-885942-41-9
    .
Political offices
Preceded by
Adib al-Shishakli
Prime Minister of Syria

1 March 1954 – 19 June 1954 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Faris al-Khoury
Prime Minister of Syria

13 February 1955 – 13 September 1955 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Prime Minister of Syria

14 June 1956 – 1 February 1958 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Office established
 Vice President of the United Arab Republic
7 March 1958 – 7 October 1958 		Succeeded by
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