Shafiq al-Fayadh (1937 – 8 October 2015) ( ar, شفيق الفياض) was the commander of the Syrian 3rd Division and a close adviser to President Hafez al-Assad. He was also one of the members of his close circle.

Early life

Fayadh was born in the village of Ayb al-Arus, near

Jableh ) , settlement_type = City , motto = , image_skyline = Jableh Collage.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = General view of city and port • Roman Amphitheater• A ...

, to an

Alawite The Alawis, Alawites ( ar, علوية ''Alawīyah''), or pejoratively Nusayris ( ar, نصيرية ''Nuṣayrīyah'') are an ethnoreligious group that lives primarily in Levant and follows Alawism, a sect of Islam that originated from Shia Isl ...

family of the prominent

Kalbiyya The Kalbiyya, ( ar, القلبية) Qalbiyya are one of four tribes, or tribal confederations, of the Alawite community in Syria. Syrian Presidents Hafez al-Assad and his son Bashar al-Assad are from the Kalbiyya. Alawite background The Kalbi ...

clan. Other members of the clan include Fayadh's cousin, Hafez al-Assad.Biography for Shafiq Fayyad - silobreaker
His son ‘Ala is married to

Lamia LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...

, the daughter of

Rifaat al-Assad Rifaat Ali al-Assad ( ar, رِفْعَتُ عَلِيِّ ٱلْأَسَدِ, Rifʿat al-ʾAsad; born 22 August 1937) is the younger brother of the late President of Syria, Hafez Assad, and Jamil al-Assad, and the uncle of the incumbent President ...

. Another of his sons married into a Christian family, whilst another married into a Shiite family.

Career

The 3rd Division under Fayadh played an extremely important role for the government of Hafez al-Assad. The unit, under Fayadh, was one of the first to go into Lebanon in 1976. Fayadh played an important role during the

Islamic uprising in Syria The Islamist uprising in Syria comprised a series of revolts and armed insurgencies by Sunni Islamists, mainly members of the Muslim Brotherhood, from 1976 until 1982. The uprising was aimed against the secular Ba'ath Party-controlled governm ...

, occupying Aleppo with the 3rd Division in 1980, and taking part in the

Hama massacre The Hama Massacre ( ar, مجزرة حماة), or Hama Uprising, occurred in February 1982 when the Syrian Arab Army and the Defense Companies, under orders of the country's president Hafez al-Assad, besieged the town of Hama for 27 days in ...

. The Division was deployed near Damascus, in order to protect the government against potential coups. Fayadh was retired in June 2005 as part of a restructuring program of the Syrian Army designed to pave the way for the succession of the

Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

to Bashar al-Assad from Hafez al-Assad.

Death

Fayadh died on 8 October 2015, suffering from illness.

References

1937 births 2015 deaths Assad family People of the Islamic uprising in Syria Syrian military personnel Syrian Alawites People from Latakia Governorate {{Syria-mil-bio-stub