The Revolutionary Ba'ath Party was an ba'athist

Ba'athism

Ba'athism is an Arab nationalist ideology that promotes the development and creation of an Arab nation through the leadership of a vanguard party over a progressive revolutionary state. The ideology is officially based on the theories of Zaki al-Arsuzi , Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din al-Bitar...

 political party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

, a splinter-group from the Ba'ath Party. The party was led by Abdullah Rimawi

Abdullah Rimawi

Abdullah Rimawi also spelled as Abdullah ar-Rimawi was the head of the Ba'ath Party in Jordan in the 1950s. He served as Foreign Affairs Minister in Sulayman al-Nabulsi's government in 1957. A staunch pan-Arabist, Rimawi became one the most vocal opponents of the Hashemite ruling family in Jordan...

 and sponsored by 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...

.

Rimawi had been the secretary-general of the 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...

ian branch of the Ba'ath Party and a member of the National Command of the party. At the August 27-September 1, 1959 Beirut

Beirut

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...

 Ba'ath Party convention Rimawi was deposed, accused of disruptions in the party. On September 6, 1959 Rimawi and Abu Gharbiyah (a Jordanian Ba'athist leader, exiled in 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...

) rebuffed the accusations and labelled the decisions of the Beirut convention as illegitimate. On May 19, 1960 the Rimawi faction issued a statement, claiming that a convention with participation from across the Arab world (except the United Arab Republic) had assembled in Damascus and elected a Temprorary Command consisting of Rimawi, Abu Gharbiyah, Sulayman al-Hadidi, Shaykhun Habusi and Hafiz Abd al-Hadi. All were Jordanians living in exile in Damascus. In August 1960, the Rimawi group stated that a 'National Revolutionary Command' had been elected and a new party programme formulated at a second party convention. No names were published of the new party leadership, though. On August 28, 1960, the party issued a statement hailing the United Arab Republic as the bastion of Arab nationalism, condemning the rulers of 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

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....

. The Revolutionary Ba'ath Party accused the Ba'ath Party (or 'Aflaqites

Michel Aflaq

Michel Aflaq was a Syrian philosopher, who is credited with being the ideological founder of ba'athism, a hybrid of Arab nationalism and Arab socialism.-Early life:...

' in their discourse for deviations from Arab nationalist ideology.

On July 17, 1961 a group of Rimawi followers opened fire on Ba'ath Party members in Tripoli

Tripoli

Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...

. No one was killed in the incident though.