After the Ba'ath Party seized power in a 1963 coup d'état, Haydar was put in charge of Syria's special forces and supported al-Assad in his rise to the presidency.

At the time a Major General, he was formally removed from his position and then imprisoned in August 1994, though he was treated well during his brief prison stay and was released without a trial or public humiliation.

Haydar was born in 1932 in the village of Hallet Ara, Jableh District, which was then part of the Alawite State set up by the French administration in Syria.

His uncle, Ahmad Mohammad Haydar, was also a well-known sheikh who advocated for Alawites to abandon superstitions and blend with mainstream Islam.

[7] Haydar joined the Ba'ath Party of Michel Aflaq as a schoolboy and was commissioned as an infantry officer in the Syrian Army in 1952, after studying at the Homs Military Academy.

Haydar provided military support for Hafez during the coup, helping to oust Salah Jadid and President Nureddin al-Atassi.

[4] Haydar's Special Forces expanded in size to 25,000 men, and formed a key part of the Syrian government's security apparatus.

The Special Forces were trained in airborne operations, and were rivaled on power only by the Defense Companies controlled by Hafez's brother, Rifaat.

[8] They also remained a key component of the Syrian government's defenses against internal and external threats, with units stationed on Mount Qasioun overlooking Damascus, and in the port city of Tartus.

Potential civil war was only averted through the action of Hafez, who intervened and placated Rifaat by making him Vice President, before sending him off into exile.

[8] Haydar, a Major General,[9] was formally removed from his position as Commander of Syria's Special Forces and then imprisoned on 3 August 1994.

[10][11] It was also suggested his removal was tied to his previous strong opposition to the peace talks then taking place between Syrian and Israeli envoys in Washington DC.

[8] His arrest and imprisonment happened during a restructuring of the Syrian Army designed to remove influential Alawite military leaders and in turn pave the way for the succession of the Presidency from Hafez al-Assad.