[2] He belonged to the Bani Suwaydan, a Sunni Muslim clan of the Hauran.
[3] Ahmad graduated from the Homs Military Academy and joined the Ba'ath Party.
He allied with Syria's military strongman Salah Jadid and participated in the 1966 Syrian coup d'etat which installed Nureddin al-Atassi as president.
He held the office during Syria's defeat by Israel in the Six Day War of 1967.
[6][5] He remained imprisoned through the presidency of Hafez al-Assad until his release in February 1994.