Word: assad
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Syria, Lieut. General Hafez Assad completed his swift takeover of the government-Damascus' 21st coup in 21 years. Assad selected a little-known schoolteacher, Ahmed Khatib, 40, to succeed Noureddine Atassi as President. Khatib's principal qualification appears to be that he is, as tradition requires, a member of the Sunni, the largest Moslem sect. Assad, who appointed himself secretary-general of the ruling Baath (Renaissance) Party, demonstrated that he was really running Syria by ordering the previous secretary-general and his rival for power, Major General Salah Jadid, into exile in Egypt...
...Assad is as anti-Israel and as critical of the U.S. as his predecessors. Nonetheless, Washington warily welcomed his accession, convinced that he is likely to be less radical than Syria's previous rulers, whom President Nixon once described as "the crazies," and that he may be more ready to consider some overall peace settlement...
Syria, as a result of a coup in Damascus last week, may seek to join the new federation despite its geographic separation from the three other members. Defense Minister Hafez Assad, 40, staged the coup by quietly dispatching his intelligence agents to arrest President Noureddine Atassi and General Salah Jadid, who had been the strongman of Syria's extremist Baathist party. The more moderate Assad, who apparently moved to get Jadid before Jadid could get him, had been ordered to resign as Defense Minister by the Baathist congress. If he can keep control of the government, Assad might...
...they went into action. In a triumphant mood, the Syrians promoted the MIG pilot who had downed the Phantom plane. A Syrian farmer who captured the two crewmen after they bailed out was presented with $125 in cash and a new pistol by Syria's strongman, General Hafez Assad...