MIDDLE EAST HISTORY POLITICS CULTURE XI-XII Middle East | Page 63

linked to the "Secret Military Committee" and its underground activity.
"Military Committee" was formed in around 1959, when a number of Syrian
officers were moved to UAR 24 . Although against this unity, they have always
been pretending to yearn punishment for those responsible for the collapse of
the UAR. After affirming their hegemony among other political forces, the
Baath party began to "purify" their own cast. Thus, the split was caused not
by the ideological clash. The real division was between civilian (Michael
Aflaq) and military ("military committee") wings. The real power belonged to
the military wing. The subsequent history would have been associated with
the battle between these wings. Next confrontation was between the brain of
the committee alawi Salah Jadid and a sunni Amin al-Hafez. This conflict led
to a real historical clash between alawites and sunnis as social groups and
serves ground for the future conflicts. This struggle for power turned into
religious ideological war that which was won by the Alawi community who
got the political and military majority.
24
UAR was the United Arab Republic, a state formed by the union of the republics of
Egypt and Syria in 1958.
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