Following the 1966 coup d'état, Salah Jadid became the undisputed strongman of the country. He began his rule by re-organizing all the intelligence agencies under the central command of the Baath Party's National Security Bureau. Jadid appointed his ally, al-Jundi, to head the National Security Bureau, which became known as the most intimidating apparatus in the country. The Bureau, under al-Jundi, acquired a notorious reputation in the country for its brutal methods of rooting out opponents, including arbitrary arrests, torture and infiltrating society with state informers.