The party was led by Abdullah Rimawi and sponsored by the United Arab Republic.
On September 6, 1959, Rimawi and Abu Gharbiyah (a Jordanian Ba'athist leader, exiled in Damascus) rebuffed the accusations and labelled the decisions of the Beirut convention as illegitimate.
On May 19, 1960, the Rimawi faction issued a statement, claiming that a convention with participation from across the Arab world (except the United Arab Republic) had assembled in Damascus and elected a Temporary Command consisting of Rimawi, Abu Gharbiyah, Sulayman al-Hadidi, Shaykhun Habusi and Hafiz Abd al-Hadi.
On August 28, 1960, the party issued a statement hailing the United Arab Republic as the bastion of Arab nationalism, condemning the rulers of Jordan and Iraq.
[1] On July 17, 1961, a group of Rimawi followers opened fire on Ba'ath Party members in Tripoli.