The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (spelled "Ba'th" or "Baath", "resurrection" or "renaissance"; ''Ḥizb al-Ba‘th al-‘Arabī al-Ishtirākī''), also referred to as the pro-Iraqi Ba'ath movement, is a
Ba'athist
Ba'athism, also spelled Baathism, is an Arab nationalist ideology which advocates the establishment of a unified Arab state through the rule of a Ba'athist vanguard party operating under a revolutionary socialist framework. The ideology ...
political party which was headquartered in
Baghdad
Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
,
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
, until 2003. It is one of two parties (with identical names) which emerged from the
1966 split of the original
Ba'ath Party
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...
.
In 1966, the original Ba'ath Party was split in half; one half was led by the
Damascus
Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
leadership of the Ba'ath Party which
established a party in Syria and the other half with its leadership in Baghdad. The two Ba'ath parties retained the same name and maintained parallel structures in the
Arab world
The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...
, but relations became so antagonistic that Syria supported
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
against Iraq during the bloody
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...
; it also joined the
U.S.-led coalition against Iraq in the Gulf War. The Ba'athists
seized power in Iraq for the first time in 1963, but were
deposed several months later. The party's regional organisation governed Iraq between 1968 and 2003, for many years under the leadership of
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
. The
Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region ( ''Ḥizb al-Ba‘th al-'Arabī al-Ishtirākī fī al-'Irāq''), officially the Iraqi Regional Branch, was an Iraqi Ba'athism, Ba'athist organisation founded in 1951 by Fuad al-Rikabi. It was t ...
was banned in 2003 by the
Coalition Provisional Authority
The Coalition Provisional Authority (; , CPA) was a Provisional government, transitional government of Iraq established following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, invasion of the country on 19 March 2003 by Multi-National Force – Iraq, U.S.-led Co ...
following the
invasion of Iraq
An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression.
Generally, invasions have objectives ...
by the
US and its
allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...
. Other branches of the party have continued to operate.
Structure
Secretaries General
Timeline
National Congress
Note: for the 1st–8th National Congresses, see the national congresses held by the unified, pre-February 1966 Ba'ath Party.
* 9th National Congress (February 1968)
* 10th National Congress (March 1970)
* 11th National Congress (1977)
* 12th National Congress (1992)
Organization
Following the
1966 Syrian coup d'état, which overthrew the Aflaqite faction led by
Michel Aflaq
Michel Aflaq (, ; 9 January 1910 – 23 June 1989) was a Syrian philosopher, sociology, sociologist and Arab nationalism, Arab nationalist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of Ba'athism and its political movement; he ...
,
Salah al-Din al-Bitar
Salah al-Din al-Bitar (; 1 January 1912 – 21 July 1980) was a Syrian politician who co-founded the Ba'ath Party, Baʿath Party with Michel Aflaq in the early 1940s. As students in Paris in the early 1930s, the two formulated a doctrine t ...
,
Munif Razzaz and others, the
original Ba'ath Party split into Iraqi-dominated and
a Syrian-dominated ba'ath movements. The two movements established separate National Commands; the National Command was in theory the highest party body in both movements and controlled their respective ba'athist movements. However, in both countries the National Command was under the control of its respective Regional Command. In the Iraqi-dominated Ba'ath movement, all National Command members came from their regional branch—for instance, there was always a member representing the Ba'ath Party branch in Jordan. In theory, the National Command was the highest party organ between national congresses, with the power to control the affairs of Regional Commands in other regions (countries).
Delegates to a National Congress elected the members of the National Command, who were eligible for reelection. While the National Command had few ''
de facto'' powers, many of its leading members also held seats in the
Iraqi Regional Command and the
Revolutionary Command Council. Aflaq was elected Secretary-General of the National Command at the Ninth National Congress, held in February 1968 in Beirut, Lebanon, by the Iraqi-dominated Ba'ath Party. He retained his post until his death in 1989, when he was succeeded by
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
. After Saddam was
executed
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
on 30 December 2006,
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri became ''de facto'' leader of the Ba'ath Party on 3 January 2007. As Secretary of the Iraqi Regional Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, he was the highest-ranked surviving member of the former Ba'ath party. Since 3 November 2020, the party is headed by
Salah Al-Mukhtar.
Branches by region
Algeria
The party branch in Algeria, the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party of Algeria ( ''Hizb Al-Ba'ath Al-'Arabi Al-Ishtiraki fi Al-Jaza'ir'';
French: ''Parti Baath arabe socialiste d'Algérie''), is led by Ahmed Choutri (secretary of the Regional Command).
The party is banned and Choutri was forced to flee to Iraq during the 1990s because of governmental repression against the Algerian Ba'ath movement.
The party sympathises with the Iraqi Ba'athist insurgency and supports
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, leader of the Iraqi branch.
Following his return to Algeria in 2003, Choutri wrote ''The Baathist Faith of President Saddam''.
Bahrain
The Nationalist Democratic Assembly (, ) represents the Iraqi-dominated Ba'ath Party in
Bahrain
Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...
.
The group is led by Hassan Ali as Secretary General and Mahmoud Kassab as Deputy Secretary General. It was established by Bahrainis who had studied in
Ba'athist Iraq
Ba'athist Iraq, officially the Iraqi Republic (1968–1992) and later the Republic of Iraq (1992–2003), was the Iraqi state between 1968 and 2003 under the one-party rule of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region, Iraqi regional bra ...
during the 1960s and 1970s. The party boycotted the
2002 parliamentary election, but not the
2006 election. The
2011 parliamentary by-election was boycotted by the party in solidarity with the
Bahraini uprising. It is headquartered in
Zinj.
The party opposes the government's
naturalisation policies and contends that it is unfair for ethnic Bahrainis to compete equally with foreign workers for jobs.
The Nationalist Democratic Assembly remains pro-Saddam Hussein
and according to its webpage supports the
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...
. It opposed the
2003 invasion of Iraq, considering it an act of brutality against the Iraqi people. The party actively supports the overthrow of the
existing monarchy, with a peaceful transition to democracy.
Egypt
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Egypt Region ( ''Hizb Al-Ba'ath Al-Arabi Al-Ishtiraki – Misr'') is an active branch in Egypt.
The party supports the removing of
Bashar al-Assad
Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator
Sources characterising Assad as a dictator:
who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...
of Syria, although calls for no foreign intervention in the
conflict, whether by Israel, Turkey or Iran, as the party believes all such countries have ulterior motives and seek to undermine Syria.
The party was outlawed in the early 1990s and two Iraqi Intelligence Officials were detained on 14 April 1991 with $38,000 in their possession, money which the Egyptian authorities claimed was to be used to fund sabotage operations in Egypt. Several other Egyptian Ba'athists, including the poet
Muhammad Afifi Matar, were also detained in April 1991 on suspicion of involvement in an Iraqi terrorist plot.
Eritrea
Ba'athist organizations emerged in the leadership of the
Eritrean Liberation Front
The Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF; ; ; ), colloquially known as Jebha, was the main Eritrean War of Independence, independence movement in Eritrea Province, Eritrea which sought Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia during the 1960s and the ear ...
in the 1970s, with pro-Baghdad and pro-Damascus groups competing for political dominance over the front. This split contributed to the downfall of the ELF and the emergence of the
Eritrean People's Liberation Front
The Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), colloquially known as Shabia, was an armed Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist organization that fought for the Eritrean War of Independence, independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia. It emerged in 1 ...
as the dominant liberation movement.
A key pro-Iraqi Ba'athist was Abdel Gadir Jeilani, who became the leader of the ELF-PLF-Revolutionary Council in the 1980s.
Iraq
In Iraq, the Ba'ath party remained a civilian group and lacked strong support from the military. The party had little impact and the movement split into several factions after 1958 and again in 1966. The movement was reported to have lacked strong popular support, but through the construction of a strong party apparatus the party succeeded in gaining power. The Iraqi-based party was originally committed to pan-Arabism (like its Syrian counterpart). After taking power in 1968, the party adopted
Iraqi nationalism and encouraged
Iraqis
Iraqis ( ; ) are the citizens and nationals of the Republic of Iraq. The majority of Iraqis are Arabs, with Kurds accounting for the largest ethnic minority, followed by Turkmen. Other ethnic groups from the country include Yazidis, As ...
to identify themselves as cultural heirs of Mesopotamia with a Islamic identity.
[Alexander J. Motyl. ''Encyclopedia of Nationalism: Leaders, Movements, and Concepts, Volume II''. Academic Press, 2001. Pp. 240.] Saddam Hussein sought to be seen as leader of a great neo-Mesopotamian Iraqi nation by having himself compared to
Nebuchadnezzar II
Nebuchadnezzar II, also Nebuchadrezzar II, meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir", was the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from the death of his father Nabopolassar in 605 BC to his own death in 562 BC. Often titled Nebuchadnezzar ...
and
Hammurabi
Hammurabi (; ; ), also spelled Hammurapi, was the sixth Amorite king of the Old Babylonian Empire, reigning from to BC. He was preceded by his father, Sin-Muballit, who abdicated due to failing health. During his reign, he conquered the ci ...
.
In June 2003, the
Coalition Provisional Authority
The Coalition Provisional Authority (; , CPA) was a Provisional government, transitional government of Iraq established following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, invasion of the country on 19 March 2003 by Multi-National Force – Iraq, U.S.-led Co ...
(CPA) banned the Ba'ath party. The additional step the CPA took—banning all members of the top four tiers of the Ba'ath Party from the new government,
public schools and colleges—was criticized for blocking too many experienced people from participation in the new government. Thousands were removed from their positions, including doctors, professors, schoolteachers and bureaucrats. Many teachers lost their jobs, sparking protests at schools and universities. Under previous Ba'ath-party rule, one could not reach a high position in the government or a school without becoming a party member and party membership was a prerequisite for university admission. While many Ba'athists joined for ideological reasons, many more were members because it was a way to better their options. Following pressure by the United States, the policy of
de-Ba'athification
De-Ba'athification () refers to a policy undertaken in Iraq by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and subsequent Iraqi governments to remove the Ba'ath Party's influence in the new Iraqi political system after the U.S.-led invasi ...
was addressed by the Iraqi government in January 2008 with its controversial
Accountability and Justice Act. This purported to ease the policy, but many feared it would lead to further dismissals.
The Ba'ath Party was led by Saddam's former deputy
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri until his death in 2020.
Jordan
At the time of the 1966 split, the Jordanian branch had an estimated 1,000 members. It was active in the
Arab Liberation Front
Arab Liberation Front (ALF; ''Jabhet Al-Tahrir Al-'Arabiyah'') is a minor Palestinian political party, previously controlled by the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, which it founded in 1969 as its Palestinian military wing. It was based out of Iraq and tr ...
(ALF) and the ALF's first leader was the Jordanian, Zaid Haydar.
Munif al-Razzaz, who joined the pro-Iraqi Ba'ath resistance in 1966, eventually became an ALF leader.
From there, he climbed the party ladder and became a member of the National Command before he was placed under
house arrest
House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...
by Iraqi authorities.
Shahir Abu Shahut became the first leader of the party branch in Jordan after the 1966 split.
Since the establishment of the
authoritarian
Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...
political systems in
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
and
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
, the popularity of the Ba'ath Party has largely diminished, as the two Ba'ath parties have replaced ideology with blind allegiance to
Saddamist discourse or the
al-Assad rule, respectively.
However, Ba'athist ideology remains popular;
a Jordanian academic, talking to the American embassy in Amman, Jordan, said that "there are far more real Ba'athists outside the party than inside", noting that the present party is downplaying (and even replacing) ideological components to get more followers.
The party was able to gain some support in the 1990s because of its status as a Ba'ath Party branch and it was able to help finance thousands of scholarships to Iraqi universities.
However, with the 2003 invasion of Iraq the party was nearly forced into bankruptcy and lost most of its followers when it failed to finance the return of students from Iraq.
The Ba'ath branch was denied legal registration in 1992. The party was legally registered in 1993, but forced to change its name from the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party to the Jordanian Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ''Hizb Al-Ba'ath Al-'Arabi Al-Ishtiraki Al-Urduniy''). Khalil Haddadeen, Jordan's former minister of information, was elected to Parliament during the
1993
The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as:
* International Year for the World's Indigenous People
The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
and
1997 elections on a
pro-Iraqi, Saddamist platform. Currently, the Ba'ath branch has no members of parliament.
In its first regional congress since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Regional Command alleged it would publicize an alleged letter from Saddam Hussein.
However, the Jordanian press largely ignored the event.
Today, in contrast to Ba'athist ideology both the pro-Iraq and pro-Syrian Ba'ath branches are considered largely irrelevant in the Jordanian political scene.
It is suffering from financial problems and it is criticized by religious Jordanians for its
secularism
Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...
, while others are weary of its Arab nationalist ideology.
In a 1995 poll, 16.8 percent of Jordanians said they were aware that the Iraqi Ba'ath branch existed, making the Ba'ath branch the third-best-known political party in Jordan (surpassing the
Ba'ath Arab Progressive Party, the Syrian Ba'athist branch, by over 10 percent in the poll). In 2003 it was estimated that the party had fewer than 200 members. According to a
Cablegate document dating back to 2007, the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party figure Ahmed Al Dmour was considered one of the biggest threats to
Islamic Action Front
The Islamic Action Front (IAF; ) is an Islamist political party in Jordan. It was the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan.
Founded in 1992 with 350 members, Ahmed Azaida, Ishaq Al-Farhan and Abdul Latif Arabiyat were the main f ...
dominance on the political scene. In 2023, the Jordanian Ba'ath Party's licence to participate in the local elections was renewed, causing criticism from Iraqi figures.
Kuwait
As of 1983 the branch was led by Faisal al-Sani.
The Kuwaiti Ba'ath Party branch collapsed during
Gulf War
, combatant2 =
, commander1 =
, commander2 =
, strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems
, page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
because of the
Iraqi invasion of Kuwait
The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, codenamed Project 17, began on 2 August 1990 and marked the beginning of the Gulf War. After defeating the State of Kuwait on 4 August 1990, Iraq went on to militarily occupy the country for the next seven months ...
.
Saleh al-Mutlaq
Saleh Muhammed al-Mutlaq (; born 1 July 1947) is an Iraqi politician who is the head of the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue, the fifth largest political list in Iraq's parliament. From 21 December 2010 to 11 August 2015, he was one of the thre ...
, the leader of the
Iraqi National Dialogue Front, has been accused of trying to rebuild the party.
Lebanon
It is presently known as the Socialist Arab Lebanon Vanguard Party (, ). It is the party branch in Lebanon. The branch held its second congress in October 2011.
However, the existence of the pro-Iraqi Lebanese branch of the Ba'ath party has much longer roots. Following the 1966 split in the Ba'ath movement with party members split between Syrian and Iraqi allegiances, the Iraqi wing was led by Abd al-Majid Rafei. Other prominent members at the time of the split were Jihad George Karam, Rafiq Nasib Alfaqiya, Karam Mohamed Assahli, Hani Mohamed Shoiab, Ammar Mohamed Shabli, Hassan Khalil Gharib and Asaf Habin Alharakat.
At first, the pro-Iraqi Ba'ath branch and the
pro-Syrian Ba'ath branch worked side by side in the National Front, but with tension increasing between the Syrian and Iraqi Ba'athist factions the two parties were on a war footing. The party was active in 1960s demonstrations and al-Rafei was detained by Lebanese authorities for his political activities, but he was a candidate from
Tripoli in the 1968 general election. The party expanded during the first half of the 1970s and in the
1972 general election al-Rafi was elected to parliament from Tripoli. Ali al-Khalil, a former member, was elected from Tyre. The party was active in
Southern Lebanon
Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa districts, the southernmost distr ...
and was built with generous aid from Iraq. During the
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon.
The religious diversity of the ...
, the Lebanese parliament formed the National Dialogue Committee in 1975.
Assem Qanso
Assem Muhammad Qanso (, born 1937) is a Lebanese politician. He is a former leader of the Lebanese Ba'ath Party.
Political career
Qanso joined the Lebanese Ba'ath in 1953. During the Lebanese war, the Lebanese Ba'ath was divided into two host ...
of the
pro-Syrian Ba'ath Party became a member, but no figures from the pro-Iraqi Ba'ath Party were given a seat on the committee. Tahsein al-Atrash, leader of the Ba'ath branch at the time, was shot dead in November 1981. The party was a member of the
Lebanese National Movement
The Lebanese National Movement (LNM; , ''Al-Harakat al-Wataniyya al-Lubnaniyya'') was a front of Leftist, pan-Arabist and Syrian nationalist parties and organizations active during the early years of the Lebanese Civil War, which supported ...
, a political organisation led by
Walid Jumblatt
Walid Kamal Jumblatt (; born 7 August 1949) is a Lebanese politician who was the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party from 1977 until 2023. A Druze and former militia commander, Jumblatt led the Lebanese National Resistance Front, allying ...
of the
Progressive Socialist Party
The Progressive Socialist Party () is a Lebanese political party. Its confessional base is in the Druze sect and its regional base is in Mount Lebanon Governorate, especially the Chouf District. Founded by Kamal Jumblatt in 1949, the party ...
. Throughout its existence, it has controlled the Palestinian
Arab Liberation Front
Arab Liberation Front (ALF; ''Jabhet Al-Tahrir Al-'Arabiyah'') is a minor Palestinian political party, previously controlled by the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, which it founded in 1969 as its Palestinian military wing. It was based out of Iraq and tr ...
.
Libya
Following the
coup d'état of 1969 against King
Idris
Idris may refer to:
People
* Idris (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname
* Idris (prophet), Islamic prophet in the Qur'an, traditionally identified with Enoch, an ancestor of Noah in the Bible
* Idris ...
, a new revolutionary government was established, led by
Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...
. The government was recognised as
Nasserist
Nasserism ( ) is an Arab nationalist and Arab socialist political ideology based on the thinking of Gamal Abdel Nasser, one of the two principal leaders of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and Egypt's second President. Spanning the domestic a ...
because the new administration proclaimed its goal as "liberty, socialism and unity", rather than "unity, liberty, socialism" (the Ba'ath Party's slogan). This change in order was important because of the ideological split between the Ba'athists and the Nasserists. Following Gaddafi's revolution, several People's Committees were established. These committees (which at the beginning were led by the people) arrested several ba'athists.
Amr Taher Deghayes, founder of the Libyan Ba'ath branch, was later arrested by Gaddafi's security forces and died after three days in jail.
Deghayes' death allegedly sparked a large anti-government demonstration (which was crushed), followed by the imprisonment of several leading Ba'athists. In 1982, a trial began in which 25 Libyan Ba'athists were charged with membership in an illegal organisation and they were freed after torture. The following year, they were re-tried on the same charge: three were sentenced to death and others to life in prison. The arrests and trials of the 1980s led to the dissolution of the Libyan regional Ba'athist organisation.
The
Libyan National Movement (LNM), an
Arab-nationalist organisation, was founded by
Ba'athist
Ba'athism, also spelled Baathism, is an Arab nationalist ideology which advocates the establishment of a unified Arab state through the rule of a Ba'athist vanguard party operating under a revolutionary socialist framework. The ideology ...
lawyer 'Umran Burweiss. The LNM (still in existence) was originally financed by Iraqi Ba'athists and produced relatively high-quality propaganda materials. For example, it issued audio cassettes which were smuggled into Libya with ''Sawt at-Talia'' during the 1980s. The organisation also produced broadcasts for Radio Baghdad.
Mauritania
The first pro-Iraqi activities was in 1968, but it was organizationally established in 1972.
The Mauritanian Ba'athist divide their history into two phases: founding (1976–1982) and deployment (1982–1990).
There is little available information on the 1968–1970 period and Ba'athist activity started in earnest in the early 1970s.
The party's first clandestine congress was held in 1976.
They opposed the rule of President
Moktar Ould Daddah
Moktar Ould Daddah (; December 25, 1924 – October 14, 2003) was a Mauritanian politician who served as the country's first President after it gained its independence from France. Moktar served as the country's first List of prime ministers of Ma ...
and used most of their early years in trying to infiltrate the ruling
Mauritanian People's Party and state institutions.
In the aftermath of the
July 1978 coup, the Ba'ath branch took the conscious decision of trying to recruit
Haratin people.
They started publishing ''The Baaʿth and the Haratine in Mauritania'' to help them in their quest.
In the period 1978–1984, the party intensified its effort of recruiting members within the military establishment.
The Ba'ath party was one of the most fervent supporters of the
Arabization
Arabization or Arabicization () is a sociology, sociological process of cultural change in which a non-Arab society becomes Arabs, Arab, meaning it either directly adopts or becomes strongly influenced by the Arabic, Arabic language, Arab cultu ...
policies in Mauritania. Because of their efforts, Mohammed Yehdih Ould Breideleil, the Ba'ath leader, was appointed Minister of Information for a short period in 1984.
Under the rule of
Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla
Colonel Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla ( ''Muḥammad Khouna Wald Haidalla''; born 1940) is a Mauritanian former military officer and politician who served as the head of state of Mauritania from 4 January 1980 to 12 December 1984.
He was an ...
, the Ba'ath were harassed and in between 1982 and 1983 55 Ba'athists were arrested by the government.
However, by 1986–1987 the Ba'ath had managed to infiltrate the officer corps and the enlisted ranks, making them a threat to
Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya
Mu'awiya Ould Sid'Ahmed al-Taya (born 28 November 1941) is a Mauritanian military officer and politician who served as the President of Mauritania from 1984 to 2005. He also served as the fifth Prime minister of Mauritania from 1981 to 19 ...
and his rule.
Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya
Mu'awiya Ould Sid'Ahmed al-Taya (born 28 November 1941) is a Mauritanian military officer and politician who served as the President of Mauritania from 1984 to 2005. He also served as the fifth Prime minister of Mauritania from 1981 to 19 ...
, with
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
's approval, expelled and banned Ba'athist personnel in the military in 1988.
Mauritania
Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...
strongly supported
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
's
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
during the
Iran-Iraq War.
With
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the Ba'ath party lost its popular appeal and the financial aid from the Iraqi embassy dried up.
By 1990, there was not much left of the original Ba'ath movement.
Another party, the
National Vanguard Party (, or PAGN), was founded in 1991 and it replaced the old Ba'ath movement which had disintegrated in 1990. The Mauritanian Ba'ath Party remains the largest
Arab nationalist
Arab nationalism () is a political ideology asserting that Arabs constitute a single nation. As a traditional nationalist ideology, it promotes Arab culture and civilization, celebrates Arab history, the Arabic language and Arabic literatur ...
political force in the country. The branch has maintained good relations with the Baghdad-based Ba'ath Party, even after Saddam Hussein's downfall following the
2003 invasion of Iraq.
The party was able to field candidates for parliamentary seats during the
1992 parliamentary elections and was the only party (with the exception of the
Republican Party for Democracy and Renewal) to field candidates for senate elections. However, the party secured only one percent of the vote nationwide and did not secure a seat in either Parliament or the Senate. Kabry Ould Taleb Jiddou, the party's leader, was awarded the office of Secretary of State by the newly elected Government because of his electoral campaign.
The branch supports full Arabization of the country, a view considered racist by critics.
Ould Haidalla introduced an anti-ba'athist policy which continued under his successor, President
Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya
Mu'awiya Ould Sid'Ahmed al-Taya (born 28 November 1941) is a Mauritanian military officer and politician who served as the President of Mauritania from 1984 to 2005. He also served as the fifth Prime minister of Mauritania from 1981 to 19 ...
. However, the Mauritanian Government supported
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
during the
Gulf War
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, and Iraq–Mauritania relations became so close that (inaccurate) rumors circulated internationally that Saddam's family had taken refuge in the country following the American invasion. Repression against the ba'athists has not been reduced. In 2003, several ba'athists were jailed on suspicion of trying to overthrow the government.
A reason for the close relationship between Iraq and Mauritania was the strength of the Mauritanian ba'athist party. The party was banned in 1999 following the official instauration of bilateral relations with
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. The National Vanguard Party was accused of developing plans in collaboration with the Iraqi government to foment unrest in the country.
Mohamed Ould Abdellahi Ould Eyye, the party's leader, was arrested in 2003 after a large anti-government protest demanding that the government break off relations with Israel and the United States and help Saddam Hussein. He and 13 other ba'athists were arrested by government forces and the party's headquarters were raided in May. Another pro-Iraqi Ba'ath party did take its place, the Party for Work and National Unity (, abbreviated PTUN). However, while PTUN is close to the Iraqi Ba'ath party branch, the group is small and largely inactive.
Palestine
A disorganised pro-Iraqi Ba'ath guerilla movement existed before the establishment of the
Arab Liberation Front
Arab Liberation Front (ALF; ''Jabhet Al-Tahrir Al-'Arabiyah'') is a minor Palestinian political party, previously controlled by the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, which it founded in 1969 as its Palestinian military wing. It was based out of Iraq and tr ...
(ALF).
The ALF was established in 1969 at a National Congress of the Iraqi-dominated Ba'ath Party to weaken the hold
al-Sa'iqa, the pro-Syrian Ba'ath organisation in Palestine had over the ba'athist movement. In contrast to al-Sa'iqa, the ALF never had access to a large recruitment pool. There were few Palestinians in Iraq, and the Palestinians living in Iraq were generally well-educated. Because of this, ALF could not and would never have the same degree of influence over the Palestinian movement as al-Sa'iqa did. This caused the ALF to be controlled by the pro-Iraq Ba'ath movement, thus weakening its effectiveness and influence, but saving it from infighting between
Palestinianists and Ba'athists (a problem in al-Sa'iqa). However, the ALF's influence weakened periodically during its history due to infighting in the pro-Iraq Ba'ath movement. Because of the control the pro-Iraq Ba'ath movement had over the ALF, the ALF always held a pro-Iraqi position in the
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...
(PLO). The ALF was a founding member of the
Rejectionist Front in 1974, rejecting the
PLO's Ten Point Program. Abdel-Wahhab Kayyali (a member of the
PLO Executive Committee
The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO EC; ) is the highest executive body of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and acts as the Palestinian government, government of the State of Palestine. ) froze his seat on the committee in protest, instead of following the example (resignation) of the Rejectionist Front.
The
invasion of Iraq
An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression.
Generally, invasions have objectives ...
toppled the Iraqi-dominated Ba'ath Party, headquartered in Baghdad. This weakened the movement and since the
Iraqi military coordinated much of the ALF's activities the ALF has also been considerably weakened.
The ALF's first leader was Zaid Haydar from the Jordanian Ba'ath branch. Other leaders include
Munif al-Razzaz, Abd al-Rahim Ahmad and Mahmud Isma'il. Most recently, it was led by
Rakad Salem and headquartered in
Ramallah
Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...
,
West Bank
The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
.
Israeli Defence Forces
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
arrested Salem in October 2002.
Shahir Abu Shahut, former leader of the Jordanian Ba'ath branch, led the Ba'ath branch in Palestine from 1970 to 1975 from Baghdad.
Sudan
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Country of Sudan is the regional branch of the Ba'ath Party in Sudan. Kamal Bolad was the Regional Secretary in 1989 and Taiseer Mutassir was the Regional Secretary in 1990.
While the branch has always been small, accounting for an estimated 1,000 members in 2003, it has been able to have a bigger impact than what its meager membership numbers would suggest, mostly due to Iraqi financing of the branch.
After collaborating with the Arab nationalist Sudanese government for years, the Ba'ath Party broke off relations and became an opposition party in 1990—this would have disturbed Iraq if Sudan had not supported it during the
1991 Gulf crisis. In 1990, the party was composed largely of students who had studied in
Ba'athist Iraq
Ba'athist Iraq, officially the Iraqi Republic (1968–1992) and later the Republic of Iraq (1992–2003), was the Iraqi state between 1968 and 2003 under the one-party rule of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region, Iraqi regional bra ...
.
The party, which was small in 1990, was influential in certain sectors, was opposed to the
National Islamic Front
The National Islamic Front (NIF; ; transliterated: ''al-Jabhah al-Islamiyah al-Qawmiyah'') was an Islamist political organization founded in 1976 and led by Dr. Hassan al-Turabi that influenced the Sudanese government starting in 1979, and d ...
and was staunchly
secularist
Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...
.
Members have historically been torn between the Ba'ath and other secular party movements, such as the
Sudanese communists.
Because of Saddam Hussein's amicable relationship with the
Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation, the body ruling Sudan, the Ba'ath branched was oppressed by the authorities.
Later in 1990, 26 Ba'athi military officers were executed in
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan.
Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...
after a failed military coup.
In 2002, a group led by Mohamad Ali Jadein broke away from the branch and established the independent
Sudanese Ba'ath Party, which has no affiliation with neither the pro-Iraq Ba'ath movement nor the
pro-Syrian Ba'ath movement. The following year, after the invasion of Iraq 80 Sudanese Ba'athists return to Sudan under the condition that they would stay out of politics.
Syria
The Syrian branch of the Iraqi-led party supported the
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...
during the
Islamist uprising against the Syrian Ba'ath government.
Tunisia
The first Ba'athist branch in Tunisia, then under the
unified Ba'ath Party, was established in 1955, but the Ba'ath Party was outlawed under
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (Tunisian Arabic: , ; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali or Ezzine, was a Tunisian politician who served as the second President of Tunisia from 1987 to 2011. In that year, during the Tun ...
. Following the
Tunisian Revolution,
the Tunisian Ba'ath Movement ( ''Haraket Al-Ba'ath Al-Tounisi'';
French: ''Mouvement Baath tunisien'') was established at its First Congress on 3–5 June 2011 and legally registered on 22 January 2011. However, ba'athists have been active in underground politics since the 1950s.
The Ba'ath Movement celebrated the fifth anniversary of the
death
Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...
of
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
. Omar Othman Belhadj, Secretary-General of the executive committee of the Ba'ath Movement, said that "Hussein's execution was symbolic, they did not kill a person but rather the ideas he represented and fought for. Hussein was killed for being against colonization and for being a defender of Arab unity and independence of Arab countries". He further noted that he did not support killing
Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...
, saying that Gaddafi had a right to a fair trial like anyone else.
Omar once told a journalist, "the Syrian regime has turned against the Ba'ath and is no longer Ba'athist one".
The party does not support Syria's expulsion from the
Arab League
The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...
and asserts that foreign nations should play a neutral role in the
Syrian Civil War. On 4 February 2012, the executive committee of the Ba'ath Movement released a communiqué condemning the provisional Tunisian government's expulsion of the Syrian ambassador. The Ba'ath Movement expressed solidarity with the Syrian protesters and condemned the shooting of unarmed demonstrators. The committee predicted that the Syrian ambassador's expulsion would militarise the conflict, mobilising Arab opinion against the government and leading to military intervention. After the revolution, the Arab Democratic Vanguard Party emerged as second "Iraqi" Baathist Party in Tunisia. Its membership is younger and its political position more at the left of the historically Baath Movement and is headed by Kheireddine Souabni and Ahmed Seddik. The Ba'ath Movement is a member of the
Popular Front, a communist-dominated front with strong popular backing.
Yemen
The National Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Yemen Region ( ''Hizb Al-Ba'ath Al-Arabi Al-Ishtiraki Al-Qawmi – Qutr Al-Yaman'') is led by Qassem Salam Said as Secretary of the Regional Command
while Abdulwahid Hawash serves as Deputy Secretary. It publishes the newspaper ''Al-Ehyaa Al-'Arabi'' (, English: ''Arabic Renaissance'').
The party carried out clandestine political activity until 1990 and was registered as the National Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party on 10 February 1997. It had initially sought to register as the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in 1995, but that name was given by the authorities to the
pro-Syria Ba'athist party.
Politically, the party is allied with the ruling
General People's Congress and during the 2011
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...
this position caused an internal split. In March 2011, it was reported that the
Hodeidah branch of the party had sided with the uprising after violent attacks on protesters in the city.
The party contested the
1993 parliamentary election in alliance with the pro-Syrian Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, winning seven seats. After the election, relations between the two Ba'athist groups soured and they contested further elections separately. The party contested the
1997 parliamentary election (failing to win any seats) and called for a boycott of the
1999 presidential election. Said, the branch leader, was sued by the Ministry of Information in February 2000 over an article criticising
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
. In the
2003 parliamentary elections, the party obtained 23,745 votes (0.4 percent of the national vote) and again failed to re-enter parliament.
However, it won two district-council seats in the 2006 local council elections.
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
1966 establishments in Iraq
Arab nationalism in Iraq
Ba'athist parties
Banned political parties in Algeria
Banned political parties in Iraq
Banned socialist parties
*
Nationalist parties in Algeria
Nationalist parties in Egypt
Nationalist parties in Iraq
Nationalist parties in Lebanon
Nationalist parties in Syria
Pan-Arabist political parties
Parties of one-party systems
Political parties established in 1966
Socialist parties in Algeria
Socialist parties in Bahrain
Socialist parties in Egypt
Socialist parties in Iraq
Socialist parties in Jordan
Socialist parties in Lebanon
Socialist parties in Libya
Socialist parties in Mauritania
Socialist parties in Yemen
Socialist parties in Sudan
Socialist parties in Syria
Socialist parties in Tunisia
Transnational political parties
Left-wing nationalist parties