Coup Atlas Research Database
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65207291962ConspiracyDissident coup

Syria, 1962 — dissident coup conspiracy

Syria (SYR)Western Asia, AsiaJuly 29, 1962

Event Summary

This entry is coded 29 July 1962, during the chaotic separatist period that followed Syria's 28 September 1961 secession from the United Arab Republic. The restored civilian government under President Nazim al-Qudsi was fragile and dominated by a fractured army split along political, regional and religious lines. In late March and early April 1962 Syria was racked by coups and counter coups: Lt.

Col. Abd al-Karim al-Nahlawi seized power on 28 March, and Nasserist officers led by Jassem Alwan rose in Homs on 31 March and again on 2 April, before an army compromise at Homs on 1 April exiled the main figures and reinstated Qudsi. Through the summer of 1962 factional plotting continued, with the Ba'ath party's secret Military Committee planning to seize power through a conventional coup and Nasserist networks pressing for reunification, all building toward the Ba'athist coup of 8 March 1963.

The July coding sits inside this continuum of separatist era army conspiracy rather than a single named plot.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President al-Qudsi's secessionist government survived into 1963 but was swept away by the Ba'athist coup of 8 March 1963
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Nazim al-Qudsi (Syrian president of the separatist republic)
Lt. Col. Abd al-Karim al-Nahlawi (serial coup officer)
Ba'ath Military Committee and Nasserist officers led by Jassem Alwan (rival plotters)

Sources

The restored Syrian regime after the September 1961 secession was fragile and chaotic as internal army struggles influenced government policy until the coup of 8 March 1963 swept the old order away.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: 1961 Syrian coup d'etat open source ↗
Between 28 March and 2 April 1962 Syria was racked by coups and counter coups, beginning with al-Nahlawi's coup and followed by Nasserist and Ba'athist risings led by Jassem Alwan.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: 1961 Syrian coup d'etat open source ↗
In 1962 the military committee of the Syrian Ba'ath Regional Branch spent most of its time planning to seize power through a conventional military coup.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: 1963 Syrian coup d'etat open source ↗
Jassem Alwan, a staunch Nasser supporter, led two failed coup attempts to overthrow the secessionist government in 1962.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: Jassem Alwan open source ↗

Editorial Note

Date discrepancy noted. The best documented 1962 Syrian events are the 28 March Nahlawi coup and the 31 March / 2 April Alwan risings. No discrete plot is dated 29 Jul 1962 in the sources located this session; the coding is read as summer 1962 separatist-era factional plotting building toward March 1963. Context with strong framing.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
65207291962

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President al-Qudsi's secessionist government survived into 1963 but was swept away by the Ba'athist coup of 8 March 1963.

Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; 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
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

CSP

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

LA Times

“SYRIA FOILS PLOT BLAMED ON EGYPTIANS,” July 30, 1972

New York Times

“SYRIANS ASSERT PLOT ON REGIME IS FOILED,” July 30, 1972

Chicago Daily Tribune

“Foiled, Syrians Assert Pro-Egypt Overthrow Plot,” July 30, 1972

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 →

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