Abdullah al-Ahmar

Abdullah al-Ahmar عبدالله الأحمر
al-Ahmar (left) with Romanian communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu (right) in 1978
de facto Secretary General of the National Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 June 2000
Preceded by	Hafez al-Assad
Deputy Secretary General of the National Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party
In office September 1971 – 10 June
National Secretary	Hafez al-Assad
Preceded by	Unknown
Personal details
Born	1936 Al-Tall, French Mandate
Political party	Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (?–1966) Syria-based Ba'ath Party (Syrian branch: 1966–present)
Alma mater	University of Damascus

Abdullah al-Ahmar (Al-Tall, 1936 —, Arabic: عبدالله الأحمر‎) is a Syrian politician and prominent member of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. He is the deputy general secretary of the (pan-Arab) National Command of the party.

Ahmar joined Ba'ath Party in 1950s and graduated from Faculty of Law at the University of Damascus in 1964. Soon after, he was appointed as a governor of Hama (1967-1969) then Idlib (1969-1970). In 1970, the regional (of Syria) Ba'ath conference elected him into the Syrian Regional Command together with Hafez Al-Asad after an internal coup in the party that expelled Salah Jadid's faction from power. Few months later, Asad's faction held a meeting and appointed a new National Command that elected Asad as a general secretary and Ahmar his deputy. This National Command is competing with another one that was based in Iraq on being the sole legitimate National Command.

In 1980, Ahmar was re-elected with Asad into the same positions they held since 1971. However, since the death of Asad in 2001, Ahmar is the highest ranked Ba'ath member in Syria, while Bashar Al-Asad is the secretary of the Syrian Regional Command. As of the organisational splitting hurdles of the party across Arab World, a national conference is not sought to held up and elect a new National Command.

Sources

• Abdullah Al-Ahmar (in Arabic).
• TV Interview (in Arabic)