Word: baath
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...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...
Renaissance Party. The fanatical leaders of the Baath Party who run the Damascus regime have long been Nasser's hair shirt. The Baath (literally, Renaissance) originated in Syria during World War II, blending socialism with Arab nationalism. In 1961, they supported Syria's pullout from the three-year-old United Arab Republic, thus ending Nasser's dream of an Egyptian-led Arab bloc. Currently controlled by a minority Moslem faction under General Salah Jadid, who wields the real power over the party, Syria has been rocked by no fewer than 16 coups in the past 21 years...