Husni al-Za'im

Husni al-Za'im was born in Aleppo, Syria, in 1897. He joined the Ottoman Army in 1917 and fought in World War I. After the war, he became an officer in the French Army under the French Mandate of Syria. He rose to the rank of brigadier general and participated in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. In 1949, he led a bloodless coup d'état that overthrew the democratically elected government of Shukri al-Quwatli. He became the president and prime minister of Syria and dissolved the parliament. He also ratified the Trans-Arabian Pipeline deal and executed the Lebanese intellectual Antoun Saadeh. He pursued a pro-Western and secular policy and sought to improve relations with Israel and Turkey. However, his rule was short-lived and unpopular. He was ousted and killed by another coup led by Sami al-Hinnawi and Adib al-Shishakli in August 1949. He is considered the first military dictator in modern Syrian history.