TRANS-JORDAN OPPOSITION REFUGEES IN SYRIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R001000040004-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 22, 1998
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: October 13, 1947
• Content Type: IR

1L4A f#riJved For Rele
P82-00457RO01000040004M
(> L
iJ ,SY} OFFICIALS nury
CENTRAL 1NTELUGENCE GROUP
INTELLIGENCE REPORT
COUNTRY S -r a, rans-Jor=dan
pia
25X1A6a
SUBJECT T:
i..Jordan Opposition Refugees -
DATE: 25X1 X6
INFO.
This document is hereby regraded to CIS. . toter 19417
CONFIDENTIAL in accordance with theravo
ORIGIN
25X1X6
e - 3
Director of Central Intelligence to the SUPREME T
Archivist of the United States.
25X1A2g
Aa a result of the Government a s action in r
.a ng dr; the Trans-JordanPopu:Lar
Party (Ash Sha aab ), eight proinT.rt nt members of of the Party have e taken ref refs e
5;rr!a, They arrived in Damascus on 8 July 1947 g in
The members in question are:
Abdul 11ahda. ,Sha is Ohs former Minister or tl-* Interior in
Turqi al-1aCayad Frans--Jordan, and leader of t!,, Party
Isa al Awad
Ahmad al-Naida.
Saish t(om.-I`Naida: i.
Abdul ,5w,'17#7,'... n Fj~ _ r. q non
Muhammad. Akhun Rashid
Data Allah Sal.ah
T' refugeo ; were wel:L rc~
'.:'?~"J`~. hr 1 try C: f i1 i ejv by th Syrian [-:CT rernmenti and Pres z ent
a ti t71"L.i'L3.SY a r.w,v,n
_" cr.... `. _
00
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ulent meet 54 xalla wing wasi d c dwas ed:7e{ in Daurasc:us at the -ere. of Ju391 at ~-hicl'a #:ae
J40 TYte;pe have joined forces wr.Lth ~~j noutxtAli y
Damascus -biased Traria iox~?anian gefDrm~ iSove Abp. ( animeh le> -der of th
aQ To form a Committee for the direct.-}.nn of prr:pa aaac a
against King 'Abdallab,s,
b, To continue agitation for the iritrot
n iuction of a
ew liberal ecnstitut n in `T'r?ans,uui?d
e To demand the abrogation of the Ang? o-~l'rans~.
Jordanian treaty,,
CLASSIFICATION ft"
L U .h Ok'I+'IGTAI S Ly.
^t &as i
Data2
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 Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R09'd004-6
C1 flTRAL EJTELLIGI;PICE GROGP 25X1 A2g
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6: ~fashid Isa, Secretary-General of the Syrian Communist Party',
has offered Communist support to these Trans-Jordanian opposition
groups,, Ghanimah has already used the presses of.Sawt-al-Shaubf,
the Communist newspaper, to print anti-raom.rchist pamphlets on
behalf of the Trans-Jordanian Reform Movement.
7r An Arab with good connections reports that liaison between the
exiled members of the Trans-Jordan Popular Party in Damascus
and these members who work secretly in Trans-Jordan is carried on
by Farah Izhak0 Izhak resides in Irbed anc circulates in Trans.
Jordan all statements issued by Ghanimah and by the Popular Party
.n Damascus,, 25X1 A6a
Note: The following background information on some
o the above-mentioned groups and individukls may be of interest,
8o Source with good official contacts reports that at present the
Trans-Jordanian Reform Movement is aided financially by the
Syrian Government, but not by Russia,, Ghanimah's group contains
all shades of political opinion and is essentially anti ?Abdallah9
rather than pro-anything., Ghanimah is therefore inclined to accept
any alignment or assistance which will serve this opposition,
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9,- Br. Subhi Abu Ghanimah was born in Irbed, Trans-Jordan, educated in
the Turkish schools of Istanbul,, and studied medicine at the University
of Berlin, Returning to Trans-Jordan in l921, he became opposed to
British-controlled 'Abdallah and helped form the terrorist Al-Gaf Al-
Aswad" organization to assassinate all collaborators rd.th ?Abdallah
and the British. A trip to Germany in 1932 impressed Ghanimah with
the merits of National socialism, and he became an enthusiastic
advocate of the Nazi doctrines in the Middle East,, In 1936 he
supported the rebels in the Palestine outbreaks,, In 1938 he again
returned to Germany and, with the '.Iufti, continued his activities
for a revolt against the British in the Middle East,, Then r'orld War II
ended Ghanimah came to Syria and there resumed his leadership of the
Trans-Jordanian opposition.
.O, Abdul ?,`ahdi Shamalah is a member of the Shamalah tribe in Karak,
`!e was born in 1887 and was educated at the Turkish schools in Karak
and Istanbul,, In 1912 he was conscripted in the Ottoman Army and
._hortly thereafter was transferred to the Civil Service in 'Beirut,,
When 9bbdallah set up his Hashinite Kingdom in Trans-Jordan, with
British help, subject entered the Trans-Jordanian Government and held
various administrative and ministerial posts, In 1915 he was Minister
of the Interior? A source in Trans-Jordan reports that Abdul MZahdi
Shamalah is at present under house detention at Ghor al-Safi and. that
it is his son Adel al-Shamalah who has fled to Damascus,, Adel al-Shamalahi
is an active member of the Trans-Jordan Popular Party. He was involved
with Ghanimah in the conspiracy to murder R.Abdallah and is now considered
a tool for Ghanimah.,
U,S:.OFFICIALS ONLY
FERE
VCE CENTER LRARY
Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R001000040004-6
 Approved For Release 1999/09/08: CIA-RDP82-004578 1 P 940004-6
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111, Turqi al-Kayad is the son of Sheikh Kayad Pasha, a well-known
tribal leader. Subject took part in the Arab Rebellion in
Palestine in 1936-1939. He. was a pro-Nazi during World War II.
12o Isa al-Awed is a Greek Orthodox Catholic who was educated at the
ottoman School in Damascus. He served in the Post and Telegraph
Department in Trans--Jordan? Oddly enough he was among the first
to call for 'Abdallah as King for Greater Syria in 19tL6. Reportedly
he has no principles in politics and is undependable.
13p Ahmad al-Najdawi served with the Arab bands during the Palestine
Rebellion in 193&-1939. He took an active part, with Ghanimah,
in a conspiracy to murder both 'Abdallah and Samir Pasha Rifai,
Prime Minister. The plot fell through and Najdawi was deported to
Aqaba but was later released;
14a Farah Izhak, a wealthy Christian., is an active member of the
dissolved Trans-Jordan Popular Party and of the Administrative
Committee of the Irbed Branch. He studied law at the Law College
of Damascus. He is extremely popular both with the people of
Trans-Jordan and with the I.P.C. trade union wor3cers whom he
has defended and assisted.
54cQ tin -=C011TROL
U.S.OFFICIALS ONLY
This document con
affecting the national
Thttted States vi
Espionage Act
amended. It
revelati
ormation
'ense of the
e meaning of the
S.0. 31 and 32 as
ammmisaion or the
its contents in any
prohibited by la.
Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R001000040004-6