Adib Shishakli
In 1945, Munir founded a newspaper, "Barada", working as its editor-in-chief, and another in support of Husni al-Za'im's 1949 coup, called "al-Inkilab" ("The Coup d'Etat"). His journalism included campaigning for women's emancipation (including giving his wife, Thuraya Al-Hafez, a platform; he also encouraged her to stand for election in 1953). On August 25, 1952, Barada merged with the Damascus daily paper "al-Manar al-Jadid" on the orders of Adib Shishakli, becoming "al-Liwaa". The owner of "al-Manar al-Jadid", Bashir al-Ouff, became editor-in-chief of the new paper, and Rayyes the director, until in 1954 the papers were split again. 1954 also saw a short-lived experiment with running a shareholding company to print Syria's four main papers, "al-Qabas", "al-Ayyam", "Alif Ba"', and "al-Sham". Rayyes supported Arab nationalist movements in the 1950s and Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt both during and after the United Arab Republic. Rayyes supported the 1963 Syrian coup d'état but once their power was established, the Baath party closed "Barada".