Mansur al-Atrash

Who is Mansur al-Atrash?

Mansur al-Atrash was a Syrian politician and journalist. Together with fellow university students, Atrash became a founding member of the Ba'ath Party and its Syrian regional branch in 1947. During the presidency of Adib Shishakli, he became an anti-government activist and was imprisoned twice, only to be released in an unsuccessful attempt by Shishakli to gain the support of Atrash's father, Sultan. In the year Shishakli was overthrown, Atrash was elected to parliament and turned down an offer to serve in Said al-Ghazzi's government. During the period of the United Arab Republic, Atrash became a strong supporter of Egyptian president and pan-Arab leader Gamal Abdel Nasser. He opposed Syria's secession from the UAR and turned down offers to serve in successive separatist governments in protest.

When the Ba'ath Party gained power in the 1963 coup, Atrash became Minister of Social Affairs and in 1965 the head of the Revolutionary Command Council. A second coup by left-wing Ba'athist officers resulted in a split within the party between the coup officers led by the Military Committee and the founders led by Michel Aflaq, with Atrash being an ardent supporter of the latter. He was subsequently imprisoned, but released in the aftermath of Syria's defeat in the 1967 War with Israel. After two years of self-imposed exile in Lebanon, he returned to Syria where he mostly abandoned political life. He died on 14 November 2006 and was buried near his hometown of al-Qurayya.