Ali Aslan was born on 1932 and is a former chief of staff of the Syrian Army, a member of the Central Committee of the Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and a close confidant of the late Syrian president Hafez al-Assad.
12 Facts About Ali Aslan
2.
Ali Aslan was trained at the Military Academy of Homs, and continued his training in the Soviet Union.
3.
Ali Aslan was appointed commander of the Syrian 8th Infantry Brigade in October 1966.
4.
Ali Aslan's breakthrough came in November 1970 when he supported the military coup that brought Hafez Assad to power in Syria, and he was designated leader of the 1st and 5th Infantry Divisions of the Syrian Army.
5.
Ali Aslan's troops were successful in the opening stages of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, as they broke through the Israeli defensive line and drove Israeli forces out of southern and central Golan Heights.
6.
Ali Aslan became in charge of the Syrian Army contingent involved in Lebanon from 1976 to 1979, supervising the "hundred days war" against the Christian militia of Bachir Gemayel.
7.
At the beginning of the 1980s Ali Aslan was deputy chief of staff and head of operations.
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Hafez al-Assad 8.
Ali Aslan was appointed commander of the 2nd Corps, and promoted to lieutenant general in July 1984.
9.
Ali Aslan was promoted to chief of staff on 5 July 1998, replacing Hikmat al-Shihabi who had been office in 1973 after his forced retirement.
10.
Ali Aslan was a proponent of mandatory conscription for Syrian men, and was the main negotiator for arms deals with suppliers around the world, including Russia, China, Armenia, North Korea and Iran, as well as military treaties with Japan and several Eastern European countries.
11.
Ali Aslan was one of the senior officials, who contributed to secure the rule of Bashar Assad.
12.
In June 2005, Ali Aslan was removed from the central committee of the Baath Party, and he retired from politics.