Amin Hafez
| Amin Al-Hafiz أمين الحافظ |
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|---|---|
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| Regional Secretary of the Regional Command of the Syrian Regional Branch | |
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In office 4 October 1964 – 19 December 1965 |
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| Secretary General |
Michel Aflaq Munif al-Razzaz |
| Preceded by | Shibli al-Aysami |
| Succeeded by |
Nureddin al-Atassi (Regional Command dissolved in December 1965, new Regional Secretary elected in March 1966) |
| President of Syria | |
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In office 27 July 1963 – 23 February 1966 |
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| Preceded by | Lu'ay al-Atassi |
| Succeeded by | Nureddin al-Atassi |
| Prime Minister of Syria | |
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In office 4 October 1964 – 23 September 1965 |
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| Preceded by | Salah al-Din Bitar |
| Succeeded by | Yusuf Zu'ayyin |
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In office 12 November 1963 – 13 May 1964 |
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| Preceded by | Salah al-Din Bitar |
| Succeeded by | Salah al-Din Bitar |
| Member of the National Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party | |
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In office 23 October 1963 – 23 February 1966 |
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| Member of the Regional Command of the Syrian Regional Branch | |
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In office 1 February 1964 – 19 December 1965 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
November 12, 1921 Aleppo, Syria |
| Died | December 17, 2009 (aged 88) Aleppo, Syria |
| Political party | Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party |
| Spouse(s) | Zeinab al-Hafiz |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
| Amin al-Hafiz أمين الحافظ |
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|---|---|
| Born | November 12, 1921 |
| Died | December 17, 2009 (aged 88) |
| Allegiance |
 Syria
|
| Service/branch | Syrian Arab Army |
| Years of service | 1938-1966 |
| Rank |
 General of the Army
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Amin al-Hafiz (or Hafez; 12 November 1921– 17 December 2009) (Arabic: أمين الحافظ) was a Syrian politician, General and member of the Ba'ath Party.
Al-Hafiz was born in the city of Aleppo.
His first main political role was in 1958, as a Brigadier and leader of a Syrian Army delegation that visited Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Egyptian president. The two states duly merged into one United Arab Republic in February that year, and al-Hafiz was posted to Cairo. The union crumbled after a Syrian uprising in September 1961, and the resultant secessionist government banished, al-Hafiz was sent to Argentina, as Syria's military attaché.
The 1963 Syrian coup d'état led by the Military Committee introduced Hafiz to public life. In the aftermath of the coup the National Council of the Revolutionary Command (NCRC) became the country's supreme organ. The NCRC was dominated by the Syrian branch of the radical, pan-Arab Ba'ath Party. Hafiz became President, instituted socialist reforms and oriented his country towards the Eastern Bloc.
The details of Eli Cohen and his covert operations are impossible to verify, and his importance maybe exaggerated by Israeli historians. In any case Al-Hafiz himself rebutted and denied the allegations of his stature within the Syrian military or political sphere. Allegedly, during his exile in Buenos Aires, Hafez befriended a supposed Lebanese trader named Kamal Amin Thaabet, an allegation which he flatly denied. According to Hafez, he never met Cohen in Argentina. His account was that Cohen was a socialite who befriended officers in the Syrian Army but was never a part of the military in any official capacity. Generally, the importance of the intelligence provided to the Israelis was greatly exaggerated. Thaabet was actually an Egyptian-born Israeli Mossad agent, Eli Cohen. Thaabet/Cohen arrived in Syria in early 1962, a year before Hafez’s return, and soon began passing information about Syrian military plans to Israel.
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Wikipedia