Bitar, Salah Al-Din

Salah al-Din Bitar, Arabic transliteration in full Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Bīṭār, (born 1912, Damascus, Syria—died July 21, 1980, Paris, France), Syrian politician who served three times (1963, 1964, and 1966) as prime minister of Syria and was a prominent theoretician of Arab democratic nationalism.

Bitar founded (with Michel ʿAflaq) the Baʿth Party, but he later criticized the policies of both the “progressive” and “nationalist” wings of the party as editor in chief of the journal Al-Iḥyāʾ al-ʿArabī (“The Arab Revival”). In 1966 he clashed with younger members of the party who felt he was too conservative. Bitar was forced into exile after being ousted as prime minister. Earlier he served as minister of state when Egypt and Syria were temporarily merged to form the United Arab Republic. During the last 10 years of his life, Bitar lived in exile in Paris, where he reportedly associated with other exiles. He was assassinated outside the building where he edited his magazine. The Syrian government denied reports that he was “marked for murder” because of his opposition to President Hafiz al-Assad.