Salim Hatum
| Salim Hatum | |
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| Commander of Radio and Television Station Garrison | |
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In office 8 March 1963 – 28 September 1966 |
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| Member of the Regional Command of the Syrian Regional Branch |
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In office 1 August 1965 – 19 December 1965 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 1928 Thaybin, Salkhad District, Jabal al-Druze State, French Mandate of Syria |
| Died | 26 June 1967 (age 39) Damascus, Syria |
| Nationality | Syrian |
| Political party | Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party |
| Alma mater | Homs Military Academy |
Salim Hatum (1928-26 June 1967) was an officer in the Syrian Army who played a significant role in Syrian politics in the 1960s. A member of the Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, he was instrumental in the 1966 Syrian coup d'état that toppled the government of Amin al-Hafiz, also a Ba'athist. That same year he launched an insurrection from his home region of Jabal al-Druze against his colleagues who formed the new government but sidelined him from any major position. He fled Syria amid a warrant for his arrest, but returned in 1967 and was subsequently jailed and executed.
Hatum was born in the village of Dhibin near the town of Salkhad in the Jabal al-Druze region of Syria, during French Mandatory rule. His family were followers of the Druze religion. Historian Hanna Batatu describes Hatum's family as part of the "middle landed class," while historian Patrick Seale describes them "poor." His father had been a director of the census in the area.
Hatum began his military career in the Homs Military Academy, where he also joined the Ba'ath Party, an Arab nationalist movement, headed by Michel Aflaq. After graduating he became an officer in the Syrian Army, with the rank of captain. In 1958 Syria and Egypt merged under the leadership of Gamal Abdel Nasser to form the United Arab Republic. In September 1961 the union was ended after a coup by secessionist officers in Syria. Arab nationalist officers sought to topple the secessionist government of Nazim al-Qudsi and formed an alliance within the military to launch a coup in 1963. Hatum was one of the few Ba'athist officers among the Arab nationalists in the army during this period, although the Ba'athists were the most organized force unofficially headed by a secretive grouping known as the Military Committee and officially, if only nominally, organized by the political party under Alfaq.
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