Hafez al-Assad

Syrian leader Hafez al-Assad seized control of his country’s government as prime minister in 1970 and became president in 1971. The leader of a repressive government that sent thousands of troops to crush a political uprising in 1982, Assad survived several coup attempts in the 1980s. Openly hostile to Israel, Assad supported Egypt’s 1973 war against Israel and financed the Palestinian Liberation Organization in its efforts to establish a Palestinian state. After failing to ally with Iraq in 1979, Assad supported Iran in its 1980–1988 war with Iraq and sent troops to fight against Iraq during the Gulf War (1991).

REUTERS/THE BETTMANN ARCHIVE

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Assad, Hafez al-; Syria

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