The Arab Socialist Movement's Damascus branch was a Syrian political party that operated from Damascus.
History
The party originated as faction of the Arab Socialist Movement, a party which broke apart in the 1960s, and continues to claim the original party's name and legacy. The Damascus branch is headed by Abdul-Ghani Qannout, and joined the Ba'ath Party-led National Progressive Front (NPF) government in 1972[3][4] and continued to support the al-Assad family's rule in Syria until the fall of the Assad regime.[2]
After Abdul-Ghani Qannout died in 2001, Ahmad al-Ahmad became the new secretary general; under him, the party continued its pro-government course, even during the Syrian Civil War.[2] Amid the conflict's civil uprising phase, the Arab Socialist Movement's Damascus branch organised pro-government rallies.[5] When the uprising escalated into a full insurgency, members of the party organised pro-government militias. Assistant secretary general Omar Adnan al-Alawi headed the National Defence Forces' Deir ez-Zor branch during part of the siege of Deir ez-Zor (2014–2017), and was wounded in combat.[2] A member of the party's political office, Turki Albu Hamad, played a leading role in founding the "Forces of the Fighters of the Tribes" militia.[2]
Following the fall of the Assad regime the party, along with all other NPF members, was dissolved by the Syrian transitional government on 29 January 2025.[1]
References
- ^ a b Al-Ammar, Najjar (29 January 2025). "الإدارة السورية الجديدة تعلن وقف العمل بالدستور وتعيين الشرع رئيسا للبلاد في المرحلة الانتقالية" [The new Syrian administration announces the suspension of the constitution and the appointment of Sharia as president of the country in the transitional period] (in Arab). France 24. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ a b c d e f Al-Tamimi, Aymenn Jawad (4 February 2019). "The Arab Socialist Movement: Interview". Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi.
- ^ Seale 1990, pp. 175, 176.
- ^ Akram al-Bunni (2013), pp. 5, 8.
- ^ Al-Tamimi, Aymenn Jawad. "Quwat Muqatili al-Asha'ir: Tribal Auxiliary Forces of the Military Intelligence". Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi.
Works cited
- Akram al-Bunni (2013). An Analysis of the Syrian Left Realities (PDF). Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.
- Seale, Patrick (1990). Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-06976-5.