On 28 March 1962, a group of Syrian army officers led by Lieutenant-Colonel Abd al-Karim al-Nahlawi (leaders of the earlier September 1961 secession coup) staged a military coup against President Nazim al-Qudsi's government, arresting the prime minister and nearly all ministers and demanding a return to land reform, nationalization, and Arab union policies. Al-Qudsi refused to serve as the plotters' figurehead and resigned rather than comply, and the coup's political objectives ultimately failed. Within days a counter-coup by Nasserist and Ba'thist officers based in Aleppo challenged the Damascus junta, and after negotiations at the "Homs Convention" the insurgent officers were exiled; on 3 April seven officers, including al-Nahlawi, were flown out of the country to Switzerland.
The episode deepened divisions within the Syrian officer corps during the "separatist period" (1961-1963) that followed Syria's split from the United Arab Republic.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Nazim al-Qudsi, President of Syria
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Lt. Col. Abd al-Karim al-Nahlawi (coup leader)
Nazim al-Qudsi (targeted president)
Sources
Lt-Colonel Abd al-Karim al-Nahlawi led the 28 March 1962 coup attempt together with fellow officers from the September 1961 secession coup junta.
SOURCE REVIEWEDKarol R. Sorby, "The Separatist Period in Syria, 1961-1963," Asian and African Studies, vol. 18, no. 2 (2009)open source ↗
The rebel officers pressed President Nazim al-Qudsi to dissolve the assembly and act as their figurehead; he refused and resigned instead, and more than a hundred officials including the premier and nearly all ministers were arrested.
SOURCE REVIEWEDKarol R. Sorby, "The Separatist Period in Syria, 1961-1963," Asian and African Studies, vol. 18, no. 2 (2009)open source ↗
The plotting officers claimed the government had deviated from the principles of the earlier revolt and sought to restore land reform, nationalizations, and union with Egypt.
SOURCE REVIEWEDKarol R. Sorby, "The Separatist Period in Syria, 1961-1963," Asian and African Studies, vol. 18, no. 2 (2009)open source ↗
After a counter-coup by Nasserist/Ba'thist officers in Aleppo and negotiations at the Homs Convention, seven officers including al-Nahlawi, leaders of the September 1961 and March 1962 coups, were flown into exile in Switzerland on 3 April 1962.
SOURCE REVIEWEDKarol R. Sorby, "The Separatist Period in Syria, 1961-1963," Asian and African Studies, vol. 18, no. 2 (2009)open source ↗
Al-Nahlawi was also a leader of the September 1961 coup that dissolved the Egypt-Syria union (United Arab Republic).
INDIRECT CITATIONWikipedia, citing Chin, John J., et al., Historical Dictionary of Modern Coups d'État, 2022 (John J. Chin et al.)open source ↗
Editorial Note
The Cline Center dataset codes this event as a "successful" military coup, but the primary academic source accessed (Sorby 2009) and Wikipedia both describe it as ultimately failing to achieve its objectives — al-Qudsi resigned rather than cooperate, and the plotters were exiled within days after a counter-coup. This is a notable disagreement between the dataset's "successful" classification (likely reflecting that the government was forcibly displaced/officials arrested on 28 March itself) and historical narratives emphasizing the coup's short-lived, ultimately failed outcome. Users should be aware of this tension. One Wikipedia-sourced fact (al-Nahlawi's role in the 1961 coup) is CHAIN because the underlying book (Chin et al. 2022) was not independently accessed this session. | Re-fetched the Sorby (2009) PDF at https://www.sav.sk/journals/uploads/092611431_Sorby.pdf three separate times with targeted prompts and confirmed every VERIFIED fact and the target_leader claim: (1) al-Nahlawi led the 28 March 1962 coup with September 1961 colleagues - confirmed ("The coup was carried out mostly by the same officers who had headed the secession coup of 28 September 1961"); (2) >100 officials arrested incl. Premier and all but one minister - confirmed verbatim quote matches; (3) officers demanded restoration of land reform, nationalizations, and union with Egypt, claiming government deviation from prior revolt's principles - confirmed ("to restore the land reform, the nationalizations, and the union"); (4) counter-coup by Nasserist/Ba'thist officers in Aleppo (under Col. Jasim Alwan) on 31 March, Homs/"Hums Convention" negotiations, seven officers incl. al-Nahlawi flown to Switzerland 3 April - confirmed with matching quotes; target_leader (Nazim al-Qudsi as President, refused to be a figurehead and resigned) - confirmed ("he refused and resigned"). Also confirmed via independent web search (CEJSH/Yadda and ResearchGate listings) that this Sorby 2009 paper genuinely exists at the cited URL, ruling out a fabricated or dead source. Separately fetched the Wikipedia article "1962 Syrian coup attempt" for the one CHAIN fact and confirmed it exists, states al-Nahlawi led both the March 1962 and September 1961 coups, and cites Chin, Wright & Carter, Historical Dictionary of Modern Coups d'État (2022) as its source - CHAIN label is appropriate and accurate. Cross-checked the summary sentence-by-sentence against the fact set: every claim (coup leadership, arrests, demands, Aleppo counter-coup, Homs Convention, exile, al-Qudsi's refusal/resignation, coup's ultimate political failure) is both traceable to a listed fact and independently verifiable in the source text; no unsupported embellishments found. No downgrades were necessary; entry is honestly sourced as labeled.
Cross-Reference
Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Nazim al-Qudsi, President of Syria.
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
“Regime in Syria Ousted by Army; Junta in Power,” March 28, 1962
“New Syrian Junta Backs Socialism,” by Dana Adams Schmidt, March 29, 1962
“The Coup in Syria,” April 1, 1962
“Syria Said To Send Mission To Cairo Delegation Reported Seeking Closer Tie With Nasser,” April 1, 1962
“Syrian Officers Backing Nasser Take Wide Areas,” by Dana Adams Schmidt, April 3, 1962
“Syria Announces Revolt is Ended,” April 4, 1962
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →