MIRO, MUHAMMAD MUSTAFA

Syrian political figure, born in 1941 at Tel Amnin. With a degree in Arab literature and human sciences from the University of Erevan (Armenia), Miro began a teaching career at the end of the 1960s. In 1966, he joined the Baʿth Party. In 1971 he was elected vice president of the teachers' union, then, in 1974, assistant secretary general of the Syrian Arab teachers' union, becoming its vice president four years later. During this period, he was also editor-in-chief of the review, The Teacher's Voice. Between 1980 and the beginning of 2000, he was successively governor of Darʾa (1980–1986), al-Hasakah (1986–1993), and Aleppo (1993–2000).

On 7 March 2000, he was named prime minister, replacing Mahmud Zoʿbi, accused of corruption. At this time, he was considered a technocrat, and to be in favor of reforming the Syrian civil service. On the following 18 June, after the death of the president, Hafiz al-Asad, he was elected to the command committee of the Baʿth, highest in the hierarchy of the party, while remaining at the head of the government. On 11 August 2001, in the framework of a rapprochement of Syria with its neighbors, undertaken by the new president, Bashshar al-Asad, he traveled to Baghdad and, in November, to Tehran. On 13 December 2001, at the request of the new Syrian president, he formed a new government, in which changes were made particularly in the economic and social ministries. On 10 September 2003, Miro and his cabinet resigned. The president appointed Muhammad Naji al-Utri, with a mandate to speed the pace of reform.

SEE ALSO Asad, Bashshar al-;Asad, Hafiz al-;Baʿth.