SA'IQAH, AS-

(Arabic: Thunderbolt), Syrian terrorist commando force sponsored by the Syrian government with the purpose of promoting the interests of the Palestinian branch of the Syrian Ba'th Party. As-Sa'iqah was founded by the Syrian government-controlled Ba'th Party in 1968 and is socialist in ideology. Chosen from the upper ranks of the Syrian Army, members viewed as-Sa'iqah as an alternative to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and unsuccessfully challenged that group's supremacy before engaging in guarded cooperation with al-Fatah, a major group within the PLO. The chief of as-Sa'iqah, Zuheir Mohsen, was a member of the PLO executive committee until his assassination in 1979.