HAFIZ AL-ASSAD
Politics
Born: 1928
Qardaha, Latakia province, Syria

"Syria and Lebanon are a single country. We are more than brothers."

Born in Kurdaha near Latakia, on the 6th of October 1930. He obtained his High School degree in Latakia in early forties.

Assad showed interest in public issues during that period which witnessed the Second World War. He participated in demonstrations against the French Occupation as well as in political activities to attain independence which was achieved on April 17th, 1946.

Hafez al-Assad, was the former Syrian defense minister and commander of the air force, he was the President of Syria since 1971. In 1963, Assad, who was raised a Shiite Muslim, helped the Military Committee bring its forceful Baath party to power. As President, Assad has sought to restore the goodwill between Egypt and Syria and together the two countries launched a short-lived war against Israel in 1973. Since then, Assad had tried to improve Syria's relations with his Arab neighbors, the United States and the Soviet Union, while fighting political and religious discord at home.