Kamal Kheir-Beik

Kamal Kheir Beik (1935–1980) was a Syrian-born poet and dissident. He is known for his Arabic poems written in free verse and for his frequent exiles. He was assassinated in Beirut on 5 November 1980 together with two other members of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP). The murder is one of the unsolved cases in Lebanon.

Early life and education Beik was born in Qardaha, Latakia, in November 1935. He descended from an Alawite family, part of the Kalbiya confederation of Alawite tribes which included the Assad family. The two families were related through the marriage of Rifaat Al Assad's daughter with a relative of Beik. His PhD dissertation was published in French in 1978 and in Arabic in 1982. He was sentenced to death due to his alleged role in the assassination of an army chief, Adnan Al Malki, in April 1955. His first book entitled The Volcano was published in 1960 under his pseudonym Cadmus. Beik participated in some armed attacks with them.

Next he settled in Switzerland and taught Arabic literature at the University of Geneva between 1973 and 1975. He involved in the OPEC siege in Vienna with Carlos the Jackal in 1975 and took part in the activities to finance the siege. In his testimony Carlos claimed that an Arab leader met Beik and asked him to organize an attack against the oil ministers and to eliminate the Saudi oil minister Zaki Yamani. Upon this meeting Beik contacted with Wadie Haddad proposing him to execute the siege. After this incident Beik returned to Lebanon.

Personal life Beik first married to a Greek Orthodox woman from Koura during his exile in Lebanon. His second marriage was in Paris.

Assassination and burial Beik was subject to several assassination attempts while living in France. He was killed in Beirut in the last period of the civil war in Lebanon on 5 November 1980. During the attack two colleagues of Beik, Bashir Obeid and Nahia Bijani, who were the members of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, were also murdered. The perpetrators were the members of a Nasserist group called Mourabitouns (Guardians).

Beik was buried at the Shatila Martyrs' cemetery.