First Salah al-Din al-Bitar Government
# First Salah al-Din al-Bitar Government

The First Salah al-Din al-Bitar Government ruled Syria from March to May 1963. The Cabinet of Syria was led by then-Prime Minister Salah al-Din al-Bitar. This government was the 60th since Syria gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1918 and the country's first Baathist government.

It was formed on March 9 by decree of the NCRC one day after the triumph of the 1963 Syrian coup d'état and dissolved two months later. All vital ministries except the defense ministry— which was headed by independent Nasserite General Muhammad al-Sufi—were given to Ba'athists.

## Ministers

* Salah al-Din al-Bitar, Prime Minister and Ministry of Foreign Affairs
* Nihad al-Qasim, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice
* Dr. Abd al-Wahhab Humed, Minister of Finance
* General Muhammad al-Sufi, Minister of Defense
* General Amin al-Hafiz, Minister of Interior
* Mansur al-Atrash, Minister of Labour
* Dr. Abd al-Halim Sweidan, Minister of Agriculture
* Dr. Sami al-Drubi, Minister of Education
* Dr. Abd al-Karim Zuhur, Minister of Economy
* Jamal al-Atassi, Minister of Information
* Darwish al-Alwani, Interim Minister of State
* Hani al-Hindi, Minister of Planning
* Talib al-Walid, Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs
* Sami Sufan, Minister of Supply
* Jihad Dahi, Minister of Transport
* Ahmed Abu Saleh, Minister of Public Works
* Shibli al-Aysami, Minister of Agrarian Reform
* Dr. Ibrahim Makhus, Minister of Health
* Talib Damad, Minister of Industry
* Dr. Sami al-Jundi, Minister of Culture
