Nureddin al-Atassi

Nureddin al-Atassi was a Syrian politician who served as the president of Syria from 1966 to 1970. He was a member of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and a leader of its left-wing faction. He was involved in several coups that brought the Ba'athists to power in Syria. He was also a medical doctor who supported the Algerian independence movement against France. As president, he faced the challenge of the Six-Day War with Israel, which resulted in a humiliating defeat for Syria and its allies. He also pursued a pan-Arabist agenda and tried to form a union with Egypt and Libya. However, he was ousted in a coup by his defense minister Hafez al-Assad in 1970 and imprisoned for 22 years without trial. He was released in 1992 and died shortly after in Paris.