Sami al-Hinnawi

Who was Sami al-Hinnawi?

Colonel Sami Hilmy al-Hinnawi was a Syrian politician and military man. He was born in Aleppo and had served in the Ottoman army before serving in the French-Syrian army during the French Mandate of Syria.

Col. al-Hinnawi overthrew the military rule of Syrian President Husni al-Za'im in August 1949 with the aid of fellow members in the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, including Adib al-Shishakli. After the coup, he swiftly ordered al-Za'im and Prime Minister Muhsin al-Barazi to be brought to Mezze prison in Damascus, where both were executed in front of Muhsin al-Barazi's son.

Al-Hinnawi was then installed as leader of a military junta, but al-Shishakli remained the military strongman. In 1949, Shishakli carried out another coup d'état, strengthening his dictatorship. On October 31, 1950, he was murdered in Beirut, Lebanon, by Hersho al-Barazi, a cousin of Muhsin al-Barazi.