Free Officers Movement (Syria)

Free Officers Movement
حركة الضباط الأحرار‎‎ Harakat ad-Dubbat al-Ahrar Participant in the Syrian Civil War
The flag of Syria used by the Free Officers Movement of Syria
Active	9 June 2011 – 23 September 2011
Ideology	Syrian nationalism Secularism
Leaders	Lt. Abdul Rahman Sheikh Col. Riad al-Asaad (July 2011)
Daraa Governorate commander	Capt. Qais al-Gueth
As-Suwayda Governorate commander	Lt. Khaldoun Sami Zaineddin †
Spokesperson	Lt. Col. Hussein Harmoush (POW)
Became	Free Syrian Army
Opponents	Syrian Armed Forces
Battles and wars	Syrian Civil War Civil uprising phase of the Syrian Civil War June 2011 Jisr ash-Shugur operation Early insurgency phase of the Syrian Civil War

Syrian nationalism

Lt. Abdul Rahman Sheikh

Syrian Civil War

The Free Officers Movement (Arabic: حركة الضباط الأحرار‎‎, Harakat ad-Dubbat al-Ahrar), also called the Free Officers Brigade (Arabic: لواء الضباط الاحرار‎‎, Liwa ad-Dubbat al-Ahrar) was a Syrian rebel group that operated during the early phase of the Syrian Civil War in 2011. The group consisted of defected officers and soldiers from the Syrian Armed Forces.

Unlike the Free Syrian Army led by Colonel Riad al-Asaad, which had links to the Muslim Brotherhood of Syria, the Free Officers Movement was a secular-leaning group. However, the movement merged into the FSA on 23 September 2011.

The Free Officers Movement was formed on 9 June 2011 by Hussein Harmoush, a lieutenant colonel who defected from the Syrian Army. He, along with 30 other defected soldiers, aided other rebels and civilians during the June 2011 Jisr ash-Shugur operation and helped them escape to Turkey. He himself fled to Turkey during the operation and lived in a refugee camp near the border with Syria. According to reports he covertly headed back into Syria several times between June and August. Col. Riad al-Asaad also joined the Free Officers Movement in July, before forming the Free Syrian Army. On 29 August 2011, Harmoush disappeared while in the camp.