Hammud al-Shufi ( ar, حمود الشوفي) was a Syrian politician, and is mostly known for his short stint as Regional Secretary of the
Regional Command of the
Syrian Regional Branch of the
Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in the early-to-mid 1960s.
Life
Little is known about Shufi's before his election as Head of the Organization Bureau of the party's
Regional Command in March 1963. He came from
al-Suwayda
As-Suwayda ( ar, ٱلسُّوَيْدَاء / ALA-LC romanization: ''as-Suwaydāʾ''), also spelled ''Sweida'' or ''Swaida'', is a mainly Druze city located in southwestern Syria, close to the border with Jordan.
It is the capital of As-Suwayda ...
, a Druze city. In al-Suwayda Shufi worked as a school teacher. From the dissolution of the Syrian Regional Branch by Aflaq and al-Bitar in 1958 to its resurrection in 1962, Shufi was able to keep the Suwayda Ba'ath branch alive with vigor. He became known as a somewhat local firebrand. As a thinker he was inspired leftist Ba'athists
Ali Salih al-Sa'di and
Yasin al-Hafiz.
At the time of his appointment to the post of Head of the Organization Bureau, Shufi was 36 years of age. He was appointed to head the Organization Bureau because
Michel Aflaq
Michel Aflaq ( ar, ميشيل عفلق, Mīšīl ʿAflaq, , 9 January 1910 – 23 June 1989) was a Syrian philosopher, sociologist and Arab nationalist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of Ba'athism and its politica ...
and
Salah al-Din al-Bitar, the party's leaders, believed him to be one of their loyal followers. On his and
Nureddin al-Atassi
Noureddin Mustafa Ali al-Atassi ( ar, نور الدين مصطفى الأتاسي, translit=Nūr ad-Dīn Muṣṭafā al-'Atasī, 11 January 1929 – 3 December 1992) was President of Syria from February 1966 to November 1970.
Early life and ...
appointment to the
National Council for the Revolutionary Command
The National Council for the Revolutionary Command (NCRC) is the twenty-man council set up to rule Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية � ...
,
Sami al-Jundi wrote derogatorily "... and so two reverent disciples join the Council ... ready to please the master
flaqand please his will". However, Shufi was devoid of any reverence to the party's leaders and would become the leader of the party's
Marxist faction. On the Regional Command, in which he was elected to in March 1963, Shufi and his followers became allied to the
Military Committee faction, a faction staunchly opposed to Aflaq's and al-Bitar's leadership.
The 1st Regional Congress (held in September 1963) elected Shufi as Regional Secretary of the Syrian Regional Branch and its Regional Command. The Military Committee submitted a report to the 2nd Regional Congress in which it accused Shufi of the electoral irregularities and the factionalism which took place during 1st Regional Congress because of his position as Organization Bureau head. At the 6th National Congress Shufi, alongside al-Sadi from Iraq, dominated procedures. Aflaq was barely able to hold on to his position as Secretary General, while al-Bitar was not reelected to the National Command. When the Iraqi Ba'athists
were ousted from power in 1963, the party's Marxist faction were blamed for the disaster. Shufi and his supporters were expelled from the Ba'ath Party by the Extraordinary Regional and National Congresses (held in February 1964).
Shufi would not play an important role in national politics again until after the
Corrective Movement in which
Hafez al-Assad came to power. He served for a short while as Syria's
Permanent Representative to the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
, resigning from his post on 27 December 1979. Three years later, in
New York City, United States in 1982, Shufi announced the establishment of a
government-in-exile
A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile ...
, called the
National Alliance for the Liberation of Syria
The National Alliance for the Liberation of Syria ( ar, التحالف الوطني لتحرير سورية, ''al-Taḥālluf al-waṭanī li-taḥrīr Sūriya'') was a coalition of Syrian opposition groups, supported by the Saddam Hussein, Iraqi ...
(NALS). NALS had 20 members, which included the
Muslim Brootherhood. The organization opposed what it considered the anti-democratic government in Syria.
References
Notes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shufi, Hammud al-
Permanent Representatives of Syria to the United Nations
Members of the Regional Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region
Syrian Marxists
People from as-Suwayda
Syrian Ismailis
Syrian socialists
Year of birth missing
Syrian schoolteachers
Muslim socialists