Abdel Hamid al-Sarraj
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Abdel Hamid al-Sarraj
| Abdel Hamid Sarraj عبد الحميد السراج |
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| Sarraj giving press conference in Cairo during the UAR period | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1925 (age 86–87) Hama, Syria |
| Nationality | Syrian |
| Occupation | Minister of Interior (1958-1961) Vice-president (1961) |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
| Military service | |
| Rank | Colonel |
Abdel Hamid Sarraj (Arabic: عبد الحميد السراج, born 1925) was a Syrian Army officer and political figure in the mid-20th century. He was a very close aide to Gamal Abdel Nasser during the short-lived time of the United Arab Republic and served as its Minister of Interior and later Vice President. Before the union, he served as the head of the military intelligence, and was known for his ruthlessness.[1]
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Political career
Sarraj participated in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War,[2] including leading a detachment of six armored vehicles to surround Safad.[3]
He played a role in the 1949 coup that removed Husni al-Zaim from power and took over the personnel department of Adib Shishakli's government in 1952. When Shishakli was ousted, Sarraj was temporarily sent to Paris as an assistant military attache. However, in March 1955, he was appointed head of the Syrian military intelligence. From this position, he was able to play a crucial role in preventing conspiracies against the regime. Sarraj did not join any political parties, but cooperated with the ones in power, in particular against the Ba'ath.[2] In September 1955, he helped negotiate the landing of 4,000 Egyptian troops to Latakia as part of defense pact made between the two countries.[4]
Role in the United Arab Republic
When union between Egypt and Syria was declared, Sarraj, a staunch supporter of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, was handed a key position in the cabinet as Minister of Interior. His position was elevated when the Syrian gendarmerie, the desert patrol, and the department of general security were transferred to his jurisdiction on March 13, 1958.[5] Following the resignation of Ba'ath party ministers from the UAR government, Sarraj was given the additional appointments of Minister of Social Affairs and Minister of Awqaf on January 1, 1960.[6]
On September 20, 1960, he was appointed President of the Syrian Executive Council. By now, Sarraj at age 35, became the most powerful Syrian official in the UAR.[2] Besides being interior minister and president of SEC, he also headed the Syrian branch of Nasser's National Union party and was chairman of the Syrian economic foundation established in March 1960. A British official visiting Damascus described him as the "Viceroy of Syria."[2] However, his use of police methods, which were seen as ruthless, and his considerable power made him unpopular in Syria. Nonetheless, he was known to be an impeccable Arab nationalist who could "get things done." Pressure was exerted on Nasser to remove Sarraj from power, but he refused, feeling that there was no one more fit to run Syria on his behalf. Eventually, in August 1961, Nasser decided to appoint him Vice President, relocating him to Cairo and thus heralding his downfall as Syria's ultimate leader.[7]
On September 18, when Nasser merged the two branches of the National Union, therefore depriving Sarraj of his position as secretary-general of the Syrian branch and when Egyptian vice president Abdel Hakim Amer dismissed one of his closest associates, Sarraj submitted his resignation. The UAR's state minister, Abdel Qadir Hatem, was sent to mediate between Sarraj and Amer, but failed and the former began mobilizing his forces on September 19-20. Realizing an operation against Nasser was unlikely to succeed, he agreed to meet Nasser and Amer in Cairo. Although Nasser condemned Sarraj of ambitions to be sole-ruler of Syria, he replaced Amer as Minister of Syrian Affairs with Mahmoud Riad. Resuming his post as Syria's vice president, Sarraj also headed a ministerial committee for UAR administrative reform. However, he suddenly submitted a second resignation on September 26 and Nasser accepted it, sending Amer to replace him.[8]
Later life
On September 28, a coup by disaffected officers occurred in Syria, dissolving the UAR. Sarraj was arrested and jailed in the Mezzeh Prison of Damascus.[9] He escaped from the prison and moved to Cairo as a private citizen.[10] Mustafa Tlass has been lobbying the Syrian government for the return of Sarraj to Syria. According to al-Ahram Weekly, he was expected to return in late 2005.[9]
References
- ^ Karsh 2007, p. 160
- ^ a b c d Podeh 1999, p. 126
- ^ Nazzal 1978, p. 40
- ^ Podeh 2007, p. 35
- ^ Podeh 1999, p. 54
- ^ Podeh 1999, p. 110
- ^ Podeh 1999, pp. 128–129
- ^ Podeh 1999, p. 147
- ^ a b Moubayed, Sami. Soft de-Baathification in Syria. Al-Ahram Weekly. 2005-05-18.
- ^ Jankowski 2001, p. 166
Bibliography
- Karsh, Efraim (2007), Islamic imperialism, Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-12263-2
- Nazzal, Nafez (1978), The Palestinian exodus from Galilee, 1948, Institute for Palestine Studies
- Podeh, Elie (1999), The Decline of Arab Unity: The Rise And Fall of the United Arab Republic, Sussex Academic Press, ISBN 1-84519-146-3, http://books.google.com/books?id=IeJ6CIyyn14C&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Decline+of+Arab+Unity:+The+Rise+And+Fall+of+the+United+Arab+Republic,&ei=hsR1Sp2XMIe6kQSOzumGAQ#v=onepage&q=sarraj&f=false
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