أكرم الحوراني
In the second half of the 1950s, Ajlani became increasingly alienated from the rising movement of socialism, headed by President Gamal Abd al-Nasser of Egypt. He joined a group of politicians and sought to bring down the pro-Nasser and pro-USSR regime of President Shukri al-Quwatli through a coup. It was planned that a group of armed men, trained in Lebanon (by the capitalist anti-Nasser regime of Kamil Sham'un or Camille Chamoun) and funded by Hashemite Iraq, would occupy and invade Damascus, dismiss all pro-Nasser officials and force Quwatli to change his pro-Egypt and pro-USSR policies. Once all Nasserist elements were dismissed, Syria would unite with Hashemite Iraq. The conspirators would assassinate the socialist leader Akram al-Hawrani, who was Master Speaker of Parliament, along with Afifi al-Bizreh, the Chief of Staff, and Abd al-Hamid Sarraj, the Director of Syrian Intelligence. Prime Minister Sabri al-Asali would be dismissed, and Munir al-Ajlani would create a pro-Hashemite cabinet in which Subhi al-Omari, an ex-officer in the Hashemite Army of the Arabian Desert, would become Minister of Defense. The plan was funded from Baghdad by Crown Prince Abdulelah and Prime Minister Nuri al-Sa'id via Abd al-Muttalib Amin, the former military governor in Baghdad. Involved in the conspiracy were the Druze leader Hasan al-Atrash, a long-time ally of the Hashemites, Sami Kabbara, publisher of the al-Nidal newspaper, and Adnan al-Atasi, a founding member of the pro-Hashemite People's Party. It was engineered by Ajlani, Atasi, and Mikhail Ilyan, a businessman and politician from Aleppo.