{{short description|Prime minister of Syria (1987–2000)}} {{Infobox Prime Minister | name = Mahmoud Al-Zoubi | image = Mahmoud Al-Zoubi (cropped).jpg | image_size = 150px | caption = Mahmoud Al-Zoubi in 1989. | order = [[Prime Minister of Syria]] | president = [[Hafez al-Assad]] | deputy = | term_start = 1 November 1987 | term_end = 7 March 2000 | predecessor = [[Abdul Rauf al-Kasm]] | successor = [[Muhammad Mustafa Mero]] | office1 = Member of the [[Regional Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region|Regional Command]] of the [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region|Syrian Regional Branch]] | term_start1 = 7 January 1980 | term_end1 = 21 May 2000 | birth_date = {{birth-date|1935}} | birth_place = [[Khirbet Ghazaleh]], [[Mandatory Syrian Republic|Syrian Republic]] | death_date = 21 May 2000 (aged 64–65) | death_place = [[Damascus]], [[Ba'athist Syria|Syrian Arab Republic]] | resting_place = Khirbat Ghazalah | party = [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region|Ba'ath Party]] | other_party = [[National Progressive Front (Syria)|National Progressive Front]] | native_name = {{nobold|محمود الزعبي}} | native_name_lang = ar }}
'''Mahmoud Al-Zoubi''' ({{langx|ar|محمود الزعبي|Maḥmūd az-Zuʿbī}};{{lrm}} 1935 – 21 May 2000) was [[Prime Minister of Syria]] from 1 November 1987 to 7 March 2000. He was the longest-serving prime minister of Syria.
==Early life== Al-Zoubi was born into the [[Al-Zoubi]] clan which is a [[Sunni Muslim|Sunni]] family in 1935 in [[Khirbet Ghazaleh]], a village 75 miles south of [[Damascus]] in the [[Hauran]] region.<ref name=dnews22may/><ref name=Rabil2006>{{cite book|author=Robert G. Rabil|title=Syria, The United States, and the War on Terror in the Middle East|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M18Jj0bMMl0C&pg=PA31|access-date=15 March 2013|year=2006|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-275-99015-2|pages=31}}</ref>
==Prime Minister of Syria== Al-Zoubi was a member of the Ba'ath Party.<ref name="Hinnesbusch2002">{{cite book |author=Ray Hinnesbusch |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r30nmQEACAAJ |title=Syria: Revolution from Above |publisher=Routledge |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-415-28568-1 |pages=79 |access-date=15 March 2013}}</ref><ref name=aps26march>{{cite news|title=Bashar Assad|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/SYRIA+-+Bashar+Al+Assad.-a073444743|access-date=15 April 2013|newspaper=APS Diplomat Operations in Oil Diplomacy|date=26 March 2001|archive-date=7 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807220613/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/SYRIA+-+Bashar+Al+Assad.-a073444743|url-status=live}}</ref> Under the rule of then President Hafez Assad, Al-Zoubi was appointed prime minister in 1987.<ref name=euromoney01>{{cite news|title=Syria: A commitment to change|url=http://www.euromoney.com/Article/1003691/A-commitment-to-change.html?Type=Article&ArticleID=1003691|access-date=10 February 2013|newspaper=Euromoney|date=July 2001|archive-date=3 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150203205412/http://www.euromoney.com/Article/1003691/A-commitment-to-change.html?Type=Article&ArticleID=1003691|url-status=live}}</ref>
On 7 March 2000, Al-Zoubi was replaced as prime minister by [[Mohammed Mustafa Mero]].<ref name=Eur2003>{{cite book|author=Eur|title=The Middle East and North Africa 2003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4CfBKvsiWeQC&pg=PA1019|access-date=15 March 2013|year=2003|publisher=Europa Publications|isbn=978-1-85743-132-2|pages=1019}}</ref>
===Currency crisis=== During 1985-2000, Al-Zoubi's administration failed to arrest the 90 per cent fall in the worth of the Syrian Pound from 3 to 47 to the US Dollar.
==Downfall and the Airbus deal controversy== On 10 May 2000, Hafez Assad expelled Al-Zoubi from the [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region|Ba'ath Party]] and decided that Al-Zoubi should be prosecuted over a scandal involving the French aircraft manufacturer [[Airbus]].<ref name=dnews22may/> Al-Zoubi's assets were frozen by the Syrian government.<ref name=Eur2003/> Al-Zoubi and several senior ministers were officially accused of receiving illegal commissions of the order of US$124 million in relation to the purchase of six [[Airbus A320|Airbus 320-200]] passenger jets for [[Syrian Arab Airlines]] in 1996. The indictment alleged that the normal cost of the planes was US$250 million, but the Government paid $374 million and Airbus sent on US$124 million to the senior ministers. Three others involved in the transaction, including the former minister for economic affairs and the former minister for transport were sentenced to prison for ten years.
The French company Airbus denied paying off the Syrian officials. The Syrian government in September 2003 announced its intention of purchasing six more Airbus planes for the government airline. The official finding within Syrian courts that Airbus paid over a hundred million dollars in bribes to their officials is apparently not a factor in deciding whether to continue to do business with them, especially with Boeing aircraft and spare parts being difficult to attain due to unilateral US sanctions.
==Personal life== Al-Zoubi was married and had three sons and a daughter.<ref name=dnews22may/> His sons were Miflih, Hammam and Karim.<ref name=aps27may/>
==Death and burial== Al-Zoubi died on 21 May 2000.<ref name=aps27may/><ref name="NY Times">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/11/world/syrians-vote-to-confirm-assad-s-son-as-president.html|title=Syrians Vote To Confirm Assad's Son As President|last=Kifner|first=John|author-link=John Kifner|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=11 July 2000|access-date=10 April 2009|archive-date=31 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831175056/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/11/world/syrians-vote-to-confirm-assad-s-son-as-president.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Conflicting reports say he died at age 62<ref name=dnews22may/> or 65.<ref name=aps27may/> According to a statement from the [[Ministry of Interior (Syria)|Interior Ministry]], carried by the official [[Syrian Arab News Agency]], Al-Zoubi shot himself in the head at his home in [[al-Dumayr]] outside [[Damascus]].<ref name=dnews22may/> The statement said Al-Zoubi died by suicide after learning that the Damascus police chief had come to his house to serve a judicial notice to appear before an investigating judge to answer allegations of corruption and other violations "that caused great harm to the national economy."<ref name=dnews22may/><ref name=aps27may>{{cite news|title=Ex-Premier Commits Suicide|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/SYRIA+-+May+22+-+Ex-Premier+Commits+Suicide.-a073739068|access-date=15 March 2013|work=APS Diplomat Recorder|date=27 May 2000|archive-date=7 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807220713/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/SYRIA+-+May+22+-+Ex-Premier+Commits+Suicide.-a073739068|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="BBC"/> An Interior Ministry spokesman said "a shot was heard upstairs and that was a shot fired by Zohbi{{sic}} at himself by his own pistol on the second floor of his house where his wife and children were present."<ref name="BBC"/> The spokesman said Al-Zoubi was rushed to the Mowasat hospital in Damascus, where he later died.<ref name="BBC"/> Hospital officials said none of his family accompanied him to the hospital.<ref name=dnews22may>{{cite news|title=Former Syrian prime minister kills self|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/761462/Former-Syrian-prime-minister-kills-self.html?pg=all|access-date=15 March 2013|newspaper=Deseret News|date=22 May 2000|location=Damascus|archive-date=7 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807220532/https://www.deseretnews.com/article/761462/Former-Syrian-prime-minister-kills-self.html?pg=all|url-status=dead}}</ref> In June 2000, according to [[Lara Marlowe]], there were persistent rumours that Al-Zoubi was actually murdered.<ref>Marlowe, Lara. [https://www.irishtimes.com/news/syrians-fear-challenge-by-assad-s-brother-1.281274 "Syrians fear challenge by Assad's brother"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506192034/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/syrians-fear-challenge-by-assad-s-brother-1.281274 |date=2021-05-06 }} ''The Irish Times''. 13 June 2000.</ref>
Al-Zoubi was buried at his birthplace in southern [[Syria]].<ref name=aps27may/> His funeral service took place in [[Daraa Governorate|Deraa province]] on 22 May 2000.<ref name="BBC"/> There were no officials at the ceremony.<ref name="BBC">[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/757960.stm "Former Syrian PM commits suicide"] BBC News. 22 May 2000.</ref> Sources said the funeral at [[Khirbet Ghazaleh|Kirbit Ghazali]], about 100 km south of Damascus, was a simple ceremony limited to his close family members and some of his hometown people.<ref name=aps27may/>
==References== {{Reflist|33em}}
==External links== {{SyrianPrimeMinisters}} {{SyrianParPres}} {{Ba'ath Party}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zuabi, Mahmoud}} [[Category:1935 births]] [[Category:2000 deaths]] [[Category:Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region politicians]] [[Category:Syrian politicians who died by suicide]] [[Category:Cairo University alumni]] [[Category:Prime ministers of Syria]] [[Category:Speakers of the People's Assembly of Syria]] [[Category:Suicides by firearm in Syria]] [[Category:Deaths by firearm in Syria]] [[Category:Syrian Sunni Muslims]]