Nazim al-Kudsi
Encyclopedia
Nazim al-Kudsi, also spelled "Koudsi", "al-Qudsi" or "al-Cudsi" (14 February 1906 6 February 1998) , was a Syrian
politician and head of state (14 December 1961 - 8 March 1963). He was born in and raised in Aleppo
. He obtained his undergraduate degree in law from Damascus
University, his MA
from the American University of Beirut
(AUB), and his PhD
from the University of Geneva
.
he returned to Syria in 1935 and joined the National Bloc
, the leading anti-French independence movement, and became one of its prominent members in Aleppo. It was a political organization aimed at the emancipation from French control through diplomatic means rather than armed resistance. In 1936, he ran for Parliament on a Bloc ticket and won. He clashed with the Bloc leadership that failed to prevent the annexation
of Alexandretta to Turkey
in 1939, and resigned from Bloc ranks. Kudsi created a coalition of Aleppine intellectuals around himself and Rushdie Kikhia, another lawyer who shared in his views, and the two men nominated themselves for Parliament in 1943, winning with ease. They lobbied against the election of Shukri al-Kuwatli
, a National Bloc leader, as president, but Kuwatli was voted into office in August 1943. To appease the opposition, the new President appointed Kudsi as Syria’s first Ambassador to the United States. Kudsi founded the Syrian Embassy in Washington, D.C. from scratch, and on 19 March 1945 presented his credentials to President Franklin D. Roosevelt
. In 1947, he and Rushdi al-Kikhiya founded the People’s Party in Aleppo. It was inaugurated as an opposition movement to the Kuwatli regime and created to counter-balance the political weight of the National Party, the successor to the National Bloc, loyal to Kuwatli. The People’s Party founders were mainly notables from Aleppo who aimed at creating union between Syria and Iraq
, maintaining a democratic government, and advocating stronger ties with the West. The Hashemite
royal family in Baghdad
supported the party and funded many of its activities.
In 1947, Kudsi ran for Parliament on a party ticket and won. His election was repeated in 1949, 1954, and 1962. He voted against the re-election of Kuwatli as president, but a parliamentary majority pushed through the election. On 29 March 1949, the Kuwatli administration was toppled by a military coup d'état
, launched by Chief of Staff Husni al-Za'im
. Syria’s new ruler asked Kudsi to form a government but he declined, claiming that the Za’im regime was unconstitutional and arguing that despite his faults, Kuwatli was a constitutionally elected president while Za’im was an “illegal” one. As a result, Za’im had him arrested and the People’s Party was shut down. He was released shortly afterwards and placed under house arrest in Aleppo. He became highly critical of Za’im when the latter closed Syria’s border with Jordan
and Iraq and threatened to go to war with both countries, accusing them of being agents of Great Britain in the Middle East. On 14 August 1949, he supported a coup that toppled and killed Za’im, launched by General Sami al-Hinnawi
, an old friend of the People’s Party and an ally of the Hashemite royals in Baghdad. Hinnawi created a political committee to run political affairs in the absence of an official government and appointed Kudsi to its top leadership. Kudsi also served on the Constitutional Assembly that drafted a new constitution for Syria and became Minister of Foreign Affairs in the first post-Za’im cabinet of Prime Minister Hashim al-Atassi
(an ally of the People’s Party as well as a founding member and former president of the National Bloc). His ally Kikhiya became Minister of Interior while other posts were distributed accordingly to members of the People’s Party and independents who also opposed the old regime. Kudsi conducted talks with Crown Prince Abd al-Illah of Iraq for creating immediate union between Syria and Iraq and made numerous journeys to Baghdad for the purpose. He formulated an agreement that called for federal union
, preserving independent governments in Damascus and Baghdad while coordinating military, economic, social, cultural, and political affairs between the two states. He then went to Cairo and proposed a similar program for all Arab states at the Arab League
on 1 January 1951.
To advance union talks, al-Atassi, who had recently been elected president of the republic, called on Kudsi to form a government on 24 December 1949. The latter complied, but military officers vetoed his cabinet and he resigned from office five days after coming to power. The officers argued that his government did not include an officer among its midst and that many of its members were declared opponents of officer meddling in political affairs. On 4 June 1950, Kudsi created a new government, less extremist than the first, and was able to secure its approval by appointing General Fawzi Selu
as Minister of Defense. Selu was the right-hand-man of General Adib al-Shishakli, the military strongman of Syria. The cabinet lived for ten months, but was unable to take the union issue any further. Kudsi resigned on 27 March 1951. On 1 October 1951, he was elected Speaker of Parliament. Shortly afterwards, on 28 November, Adib al-Shishakli seized power in Damascus and arrested the entire People’s Party leadership, accusing them of wanting to topple Syria’s republican regime and replace it with a monarchical one that was loyal to Britain and Iraq. He appointed Selu as provisional head of state and arrested Kudsi, sending him to Mezzeh prison. He was released in January 1952 but placed under house arrest. He joined the underground and worked in secret against Shishakli, supporting a coup d’etat that brought him down in February 1954.
In October 1954, Nazim al-Kudsi became a deputy in the first post-Shishakli Parliament and was elected speaker on 14 October 1954. He tried to regain some of his influence in political circles, but by that time, the People’s Party had fallen from grace, and few Syrians advocated union with Iraq. Instead, they wanted union with Egypt
, under the rising leadership of the young and charismatic President Gamal Abd al-Nasser. In vain, Kudsi tried challenging Nasser’s authority. He advocated pro-British and pro-American views at a time when the majority of Syrians had become pro-Soviet Union
. He called on Syria to join the Baghdad Pact, an Anglo-American treaty to contain Communism
, and pro-Nasser newspapers accused him of working as an agent for the Hashemites. On 12 October 1957, Kudsi resigned from office and was replaced by the pro-Nasser socialist leader, Akram al-Hawrani
. He voted against the Syrian-Egyptian union and when the two countries merged to form the United Arab Republic
(UAR) in 1958, he resigned from public life altogether and retired to Aleppo.
, and Lebanon
, and build bridges with the United States and Great Britain. The Hashemite family in Baghdad, which had supported his career for the past thirty years, had been toppled by a bloody military revolution in July 1958. He was never on good terms with the new leaders of Iraq, especially the revolt leader, General Abdul Karim Kassem. The West, particularly President John F. Kennedy
, welcomed Kudsi’s ascent and labeled him a “friend” of the United States. To promote Syria’s relations with Washington, Kudsi appointed Omar Abu-Riche
, a renowned poet from Aleppo who like him, was an AUB graduate, as ambassador in the years 1961-1963. He began a massive economic reform program, restoring factories that had been nationalized
by Nasser when he headed the UAR, and dismissing all pro-Nasser officials from office. All officers who were still loyal to the Egyptian President were discharged from the Syrian Army. Kudsi drafted a new constitution for Syria, restored the outlawed political parties, and received loans from the World Bank
for rebuilding Syria’s dislocated economy.
, a veteran of the People’s Party with declared anti-officer views, as Prime Minister. Bitter from his experience with the officers since the Shishakli era, Dawalibi began curbing their influence in all state affairs and centralizing matters in the hands of Kudsi and the government. On 28 March 1962, a coup d’etat took place in Syria, launched by Colonel Abd al-Karim al-Nehlawi. He arrested Kudsi and Dawalibi, accusing them of misusing their powers and persecuting the officers of the Syrian Army. A counter coup broke out on 2 April, headed by Chief of Staff Abd al-Karim Zahr al-Din, who ordered all troops to stand by President Kudsi. The army complied, releasing Kudsi from prison and restoring the dissolved Parliament. Kudsi refused to arrest or kill Nehlawi, but rather, curbed his power by appointing him military attaché
to Indonesia
—a purely ceremonial post. He then tried to appease the officers and the socialists by calling on Bashir al-Azma
, a doctor who had been close to Nasser and who held office as Minister of Health under the UAR, to become Prime Minister in April 1962. His cabinet included members of the socialist Baath Party
that was pro-Nasser. Kudsi and Azma dispatched Foreign Minister Adnan al-Azhari to Cairo to mend relations with the Egyptian President. When that failed, however, they filed a complaint to the Arab League, accusing him of wanting to destabilize Syria through interfering in its domestic affairs and calling on the army to rebel against the government. On 8 March 1963, however, another coup d’etat took place in Syria, launched by the Military Committee of the Baath Party. The officers who came to power pledged to restore the UAR and had Kudsi arrested. He was released after a while. He moved to Lebanon, Europe, and Jordan, where he lived in exile until he died in Jordan in February 1998.
Syrian people
The Syrian people are the inhabitants and citizens of Syria. Syrians are tied together by geography, linguistic heritage, religion, and similar Eastern Mediterranean ethnicities...
politician and head of state (14 December 1961 - 8 March 1963). He was born in and raised in Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
. He obtained his undergraduate degree in law from Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
University, his MA
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
from the American University of Beirut
American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut is a private, independent university in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded as the Syrian Protestant College by American missionaries in 1866...
(AUB), and his PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
from the University of Geneva
University of Geneva
The University of Geneva is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland.It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin, as a theological seminary and law school. It remained focused on theology until the 17th century, when it became a center for Enlightenment scholarship. In 1873, it...
.
Early career
After university education in BeirutBeirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
he returned to Syria in 1935 and joined the National Bloc
National Bloc
The National Bloc was a Nablus-based party established in 1935 in the British Mandate for Palestine by Abd al-Latif Salah. Salah generally took an anti-Husayni stance.- References :...
, the leading anti-French independence movement, and became one of its prominent members in Aleppo. It was a political organization aimed at the emancipation from French control through diplomatic means rather than armed resistance. In 1936, he ran for Parliament on a Bloc ticket and won. He clashed with the Bloc leadership that failed to prevent the annexation
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
of Alexandretta to Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
in 1939, and resigned from Bloc ranks. Kudsi created a coalition of Aleppine intellectuals around himself and Rushdie Kikhia, another lawyer who shared in his views, and the two men nominated themselves for Parliament in 1943, winning with ease. They lobbied against the election of Shukri al-Kuwatli
Shukri al-Kuwatli
Shukri al-Quwatli was the president of Syria from 1943 to 1949 and from 1955 to 1958.-Political life:He was born in Damascus into a Turkish family, originally from Konya....
, a National Bloc leader, as president, but Kuwatli was voted into office in August 1943. To appease the opposition, the new President appointed Kudsi as Syria’s first Ambassador to the United States. Kudsi founded the Syrian Embassy in Washington, D.C. from scratch, and on 19 March 1945 presented his credentials to President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
. In 1947, he and Rushdi al-Kikhiya founded the People’s Party in Aleppo. It was inaugurated as an opposition movement to the Kuwatli regime and created to counter-balance the political weight of the National Party, the successor to the National Bloc, loyal to Kuwatli. The People’s Party founders were mainly notables from Aleppo who aimed at creating union between Syria and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, maintaining a democratic government, and advocating stronger ties with the West. The Hashemite
Hashemite
Hashemite is the Latinate version of the , transliteration: Hāšimī, and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim, or "clan of Hashim", a clan within the larger Quraish tribe...
royal family in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
supported the party and funded many of its activities.
In 1947, Kudsi ran for Parliament on a party ticket and won. His election was repeated in 1949, 1954, and 1962. He voted against the re-election of Kuwatli as president, but a parliamentary majority pushed through the election. On 29 March 1949, the Kuwatli administration was toppled by a military coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
, launched by Chief of Staff Husni al-Za'im
Husni al-Za'im
Husni al-Za'im was a Syrian military man and politician. Husni al-Za'im, whose family is of Kurdish ancestry, had been an officer in the Ottoman Army. After France instituted its colonial mandate over Syria after the First World War, he became an officer in the French Army...
. Syria’s new ruler asked Kudsi to form a government but he declined, claiming that the Za’im regime was unconstitutional and arguing that despite his faults, Kuwatli was a constitutionally elected president while Za’im was an “illegal” one. As a result, Za’im had him arrested and the People’s Party was shut down. He was released shortly afterwards and placed under house arrest in Aleppo. He became highly critical of Za’im when the latter closed Syria’s border with Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
and Iraq and threatened to go to war with both countries, accusing them of being agents of Great Britain in the Middle East. On 14 August 1949, he supported a coup that toppled and killed Za’im, launched by General Sami al-Hinnawi
Sami al-Hinnawi
Colonel Sami Hilmy al-Hinnawi was a Syrian politician and military man. He was born in Aleppo and had sereved in the Ottoman army before serving in the French-Syrian army during the French Mandate of Syria....
, an old friend of the People’s Party and an ally of the Hashemite royals in Baghdad. Hinnawi created a political committee to run political affairs in the absence of an official government and appointed Kudsi to its top leadership. Kudsi also served on the Constitutional Assembly that drafted a new constitution for Syria and became Minister of Foreign Affairs in the first post-Za’im cabinet of Prime Minister Hashim al-Atassi
Hashim al-Atassi
Hashim Bay Khalid al-Atassi was a Syrian nationalist, statesman and its President from 1936 to 1939, 1949 to 1951, and 1954 to 1955.- Background and early career :...
(an ally of the People’s Party as well as a founding member and former president of the National Bloc). His ally Kikhiya became Minister of Interior while other posts were distributed accordingly to members of the People’s Party and independents who also opposed the old regime. Kudsi conducted talks with Crown Prince Abd al-Illah of Iraq for creating immediate union between Syria and Iraq and made numerous journeys to Baghdad for the purpose. He formulated an agreement that called for federal union
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
, preserving independent governments in Damascus and Baghdad while coordinating military, economic, social, cultural, and political affairs between the two states. He then went to Cairo and proposed a similar program for all Arab states at the Arab League
Arab League
The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
on 1 January 1951.
The United Arab Republic
Fawzi Selu
Fawzi Selu was a Syrian military leader, politician and head of state .-Career:He studied at the Homs Military Academy and joined the French-sponsored Troupe Speciales that was created when France imposed its League of Nations mandate on Syria in July 1920...
as Minister of Defense. Selu was the right-hand-man of General Adib al-Shishakli, the military strongman of Syria. The cabinet lived for ten months, but was unable to take the union issue any further. Kudsi resigned on 27 March 1951. On 1 October 1951, he was elected Speaker of Parliament. Shortly afterwards, on 28 November, Adib al-Shishakli seized power in Damascus and arrested the entire People’s Party leadership, accusing them of wanting to topple Syria’s republican regime and replace it with a monarchical one that was loyal to Britain and Iraq. He appointed Selu as provisional head of state and arrested Kudsi, sending him to Mezzeh prison. He was released in January 1952 but placed under house arrest. He joined the underground and worked in secret against Shishakli, supporting a coup d’etat that brought him down in February 1954.
In October 1954, Nazim al-Kudsi became a deputy in the first post-Shishakli Parliament and was elected speaker on 14 October 1954. He tried to regain some of his influence in political circles, but by that time, the People’s Party had fallen from grace, and few Syrians advocated union with Iraq. Instead, they wanted union with Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, under the rising leadership of the young and charismatic President Gamal Abd al-Nasser. In vain, Kudsi tried challenging Nasser’s authority. He advocated pro-British and pro-American views at a time when the majority of Syrians had become pro-Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. He called on Syria to join the Baghdad Pact, an Anglo-American treaty to contain Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, and pro-Nasser newspapers accused him of working as an agent for the Hashemites. On 12 October 1957, Kudsi resigned from office and was replaced by the pro-Nasser socialist leader, Akram al-Hawrani
Akram al-Hawrani
Akram al-Hawrani |transcribe]]d Hourani or Hurani) , was a Syrian politician who played a prominent role in the formation of a widespread populist, nationalist movement in Syria and in the rise of the Ba'th Party...
. He voted against the Syrian-Egyptian union and when the two countries merged to form the United Arab Republic
United Arab Republic
The United Arab Republic , often abbreviated as the U.A.R., was a sovereign union between Egypt and Syria. The union began in 1958 and existed until 1961, when Syria seceded from the union. Egypt continued to be known officially as the "United Arab Republic" until 1971. The President was Gamal...
(UAR) in 1958, he resigned from public life altogether and retired to Aleppo.
International relations after the UAR
On 28 September 1961, a new coup took place in Syria and toppled the UAR regime. Kudsi rallied to its support and nominated himself for the first post-union Parliament, becoming a deputy for Aleppo in December 1961. He then ran for presidential office and won, becoming the first post-Nasser leader of Syria on 12 December 1961. As president, he worked to restore Syria’s friendship with the anti-Nasser regimes in Jordan, Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, and Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, and build bridges with the United States and Great Britain. The Hashemite family in Baghdad, which had supported his career for the past thirty years, had been toppled by a bloody military revolution in July 1958. He was never on good terms with the new leaders of Iraq, especially the revolt leader, General Abdul Karim Kassem. The West, particularly President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, welcomed Kudsi’s ascent and labeled him a “friend” of the United States. To promote Syria’s relations with Washington, Kudsi appointed Omar Abu-Riche
Omar Abu-Riche
Omar Abu-Riche was an influential Syrian poet known for his pioneering works.Abu-Riche was born in Manbij, near Aleppo. He received his educational upbringing in Syria and continued his tertiary studies at the University of Damascus. He also studied at the American University in Beirut in 1931,...
, a renowned poet from Aleppo who like him, was an AUB graduate, as ambassador in the years 1961-1963. He began a massive economic reform program, restoring factories that had been nationalized
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
by Nasser when he headed the UAR, and dismissing all pro-Nasser officials from office. All officers who were still loyal to the Egyptian President were discharged from the Syrian Army. Kudsi drafted a new constitution for Syria, restored the outlawed political parties, and received loans from the World Bank
World Bank Group
The World Bank Group is a family of five international organizations that makes leveraged loans, generally to poor countries.The Bank came into formal existence on 27 December 1945 following international ratification of the Bretton Woods agreements, which emerged from the United Nations Monetary...
for rebuilding Syria’s dislocated economy.
Exile
President Kudsi clashed with the officers that had brought him to power and tried to marginalize their role in political affairs. He appointed Maarouf al-DawalibiMaarouf al-Dawalibi
Maarouf al-Dawalibi , was a Syrian politician and a two time prime minister of Syria. He was born in Aleppo, and held a Ph.D. in Law. He served as a minister of economy between 1949 and 1950, and was elected speaker of the parliament in 1951. He also served as minister of defense between 1954 and...
, a veteran of the People’s Party with declared anti-officer views, as Prime Minister. Bitter from his experience with the officers since the Shishakli era, Dawalibi began curbing their influence in all state affairs and centralizing matters in the hands of Kudsi and the government. On 28 March 1962, a coup d’etat took place in Syria, launched by Colonel Abd al-Karim al-Nehlawi. He arrested Kudsi and Dawalibi, accusing them of misusing their powers and persecuting the officers of the Syrian Army. A counter coup broke out on 2 April, headed by Chief of Staff Abd al-Karim Zahr al-Din, who ordered all troops to stand by President Kudsi. The army complied, releasing Kudsi from prison and restoring the dissolved Parliament. Kudsi refused to arrest or kill Nehlawi, but rather, curbed his power by appointing him military attaché
Military attaché
A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission . This post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer who retains the commission while serving in an embassy...
to Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
—a purely ceremonial post. He then tried to appease the officers and the socialists by calling on Bashir al-Azma
Bashir al-Azma
Bashir al-Azma, , was a doctor and Syrian Prime Minister from 16 April to 14 September 1962.-Biography:He was born in and raised in the capital Damascus. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Medicine from Damascus University and his graduate in Paris...
, a doctor who had been close to Nasser and who held office as Minister of Health under the UAR, to become Prime Minister in April 1962. His cabinet included members of the socialist Baath Party
Baath Party
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party was a political party mixing Arab nationalist and Arab socialist interests, opposed to Western imperialism, and calling for the renaissance or resurrection and unification of the Arab world into a single state. Ba'ath is also spelled Ba'th or Baath and means...
that was pro-Nasser. Kudsi and Azma dispatched Foreign Minister Adnan al-Azhari to Cairo to mend relations with the Egyptian President. When that failed, however, they filed a complaint to the Arab League, accusing him of wanting to destabilize Syria through interfering in its domestic affairs and calling on the army to rebel against the government. On 8 March 1963, however, another coup d’etat took place in Syria, launched by the Military Committee of the Baath Party. The officers who came to power pledged to restore the UAR and had Kudsi arrested. He was released after a while. He moved to Lebanon, Europe, and Jordan, where he lived in exile until he died in Jordan in February 1998.