Ali Haydar (Syrian army officer)
| Ali Haydar | |
|---|---|
General Ali Haydar at a military parade in 1987
|
|
| Native name | علي حيدر |
| Born | 1932 (age 84–85) Hallet Ara, Jableh District, Syria |
| Allegiance |
 Syria
|
| Service/branch | Syrian Arab Army |
| Years of service | 1952 - 1994 |
| Rank |
 Major General
|
| Unit | 14th Special Forces Division |
| Commands held | Special Forces Command (1968 - 1988, 1990 - 1994) |
| Battles/wars | |
Lebanese Civil War
Islamist Uprising in Syria
Ali Haydar (Arabic: علي حيدر), known as the "father of the Syrian Special Forces", was the commander of the Syrian Special Forces for 26 years and a close confidante to President Hafez al-Assad. He was also one of the members of his inner circle.
Haydar was born in 1932 in the village of Hallet Ara, Jableh District, which was then part of the Alawite State set up by the French administration in Syria.
It is not quite clear which Alawite tribe Haydar belongs to, and different sources either cite him as being a member of the Khayatin tribe, which is traditionally allied with the Kalbiyya tribe; to which the Assad family belongs. or possibly to the Haddadin tribe, to which Salah Jadid belonged.
He was a childhood friend of Hafez al-Assad.
Two of his five children married outside the Alawite faith, with his son marrying a Sunni and his daughter marrying a Shiite.
Haydar joined the Ba'ath Party of Michel Aflaq as a schoolboy and was commissioned as an infantry officer in the Syrian Army in 1952, after studying at the Homs Military Academy.
The Ba'ath Party came to power in Syria following the 1963 Syrian coup d'état. Haydar went on to become the Commander of Syria's Special Forces in 1968 after training at the Soviet airborne forces' academy. Haydar remained close to his childhood friend Hafez al-Assad, and supported him in the 1970 Syrian Corrective Revolution, which brought Hafez to power. Haydar provided military support for Hafez during the coup, helping to oust Salah Jadid and President Nureddin al-Atassi.
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