Syria's Baath party suspends all work indefinitely, after fall of Assad regime

Syria’s Baath party has announced its suspension of work indefinitely “until further notice”, following the collapse and overthrow of the late Assad regime in recent days.

In a statement published on the website of the Baath party’s newspaper, the party’s Deputy Secretary-General, Ibrahim Al-Hadid, announced that its central leadership has decided to “suspend party work and activity in all its forms and sectors until further notice”.

The statement added that all of the party’s “assets and funds will be placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance, with revenues deposited in the Central Bank of Syria”.

The Baath Party’s rule in Syria lasted for over six decades after it came to power in 1963, with the Assad dynasty being at its helm for the vast majority of that period.

Its formal end in the country – brought about by the former rebels’ rapid offensive throughout Syria over the past two weeks – marks a significant development in the region, particularly as Syria had remained the last Baath bastion after its Iraqi branch was dismantled in 2003 following the toppling of Saddam Hussein.

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