who is the leader of syria now?
Bashar al-Assad
entailment
 By December , the political situation in Syria was faltering and Nasser responded by appointing Amer as governor @-@ general alongside Sarraj . Syria 's leaders opposed the appointment and many resigned from their government posts . Nasser later met with the opposition leaders and in a heated moment , exclaimed that he was the " elected " president of the UAR and those who did not accept his authority could " walk away " . 

entailment
 Leftist influence in Syria grew further in the immediate wake of the crisis ; on 15 August , a high @-@ ranking officer from Sidon , Lebanon with Marxist leanings , Afif Bizri , was appointed army chief of staff , and several mid @-@ level officers were replaced with communist officers . Quwatli flew to Egypt amid apparent plans to resign from the presidency in favor of the Soviet @-@ leaning Azm . However , he returned to Syria on 26 August . Tensions had been rising as rumors swept the region regarding a US @-@ backed Turkish or joint Iraqi @-@ Jordanian invasion of Syria to prevent a potential communist takeover . Quwatli 's earlier success in repairing ties between Syria and Saudi Arabia proved particularly useful during this period . Saud immediately lent his full support to Quwatli , whom he viewed as a significant counterweight to the leftist movement , by rebuffing President Dwight D. Eisenhower 's appeal to endorse the Eisenhower Doctrine , a policy aimed at containing communist and Arab nationalist influence in the Middle East . He also accepted an invitation to Damascus by Quwatli on 25 August , publicly stating that Saudi Arabia would support Syria in any aggression against it . Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Jawdat also proclaimed support for Syria when he visited on 26 August , in spite of support for an attack by the Iraqi monarchy . Both Saud and Jawdat privately criticized Syria 's leadership for increasing dependence on the Eastern bloc . 

contradiction
 Leaders of the main rebel coalition , the Syrian National Coalition , were angered by the agreement . The U.S. , without consulting the coalition , had changed its mind about striking Syria . Rebels furthermore worried the agreement might be a considered a de facto admission of the Bashar al @-@ Assad government 's legitimacy . 

entailment
 As political instability grew in Syria , delegations from the country were sent to Nasser demanding immediate unification with Egypt . Nasser initially turned down the request , citing the two countries ' incompatible political and economic systems , lack of contiguity , the Syrian military 's record of intervention in politics , and the deep factionalism among Syria 's political forces . However , in January 1958 , a second Syrian delegation managed to convince Nasser of an impending communist takeover and a consequent slide to civil strife . Nasser subsequently opted for union , albeit on the condition that it would be a total political merger with him as its president , to which the delegates and Syrian president Shukri al @-@ Quwatli agreed . On 1 February , the United Arab Republic ( UAR ) was proclaimed and , according to Dawisha , the Arab world reacted in " stunned amazement , which quickly turned into uncontrolled euphoria . " Nasser ordered a crackdown against Syrian communists , dismissing many of them from their governmental posts . 

entailment
 On 6 August , Quwatli established a long @-@ term agreement with the USSR , entailing a long @-@ term Soviet loan to fund development works in Syria and the Soviet purchase of a large portion of Syrian agricultural and textile surpluses . US fears that Syria was approaching a communist takeover had prompted an attempted CIA @-@ sponsored coup to replace the Quwatli government with former president Shishakli . However , the coup plot was foiled by the head of Syrian intelligence , Abdel Hamid al @-@ Sarraj , on 12 August and Syria consequently expelled the US military attaché from Damascus . The US , which denied the coup plot , responded by expelling the Syrian ambassador from Washington and recalling its ambassador from Syria . 
