Sami al-Hinnawi

Colonel Sami Hilmy al-Hinnawi (1898 – October 31, 1950) (محمد سامي حلمي الحناوي) was a Syrian politician and military man. He was born in Aleppo and had served in the Ottoman army before serving in the French-Syrian army during the French Mandate of Syria.

Col. al-Hinnawi overthrew the military rule of Syrian President Husni al-Za'im in August 1949 with the aid of fellow members in the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, including Adib al-Shishakli. After the coup, he swiftly ordered al-Za'im and Prime Minister Muhsin al-Barazi to be brought to Mezze prison in Damascus, where both were executed in front of Muhsin al-Barazi's son.

Al-Hinnawi was then installed as leader of a military junta, but al-Shishakli remained the military strongman. In 1949, Shishakli carried out another coup d'état (the third that year), strengthening his dictatorship. On October 31, 1950, he was murdered in Beirut, Lebanon, by Hersho al-Barazi, a cousin of Muhsin al-Barazi.