Mahmoud Zuabi

Mahmoud Al-Zoubi (; 1935 – 21 May 2000) was Prime Minister of Syria from 1 November 1987 to 7 March 2000. He was the longest-serving prime minister of Syria.

Early life Al-Zoubi was born into the Al-Zoubi clan which is a Sunni family in 1935 in Khirbet Ghazaleh, a village 75 miles south of Damascus in the Hauran region.

Prime Minister of Syria Al-Zoubi was a member of the Ba'ath Party. Under the rule of then President Hafez Assad, Al-Zoubi was appointed prime minister in 1987.

On 7 March 2000, Al-Zoubi was replaced as prime minister by Mohammed Mustafa Mero.

Currency crisis Between 1985 and 2000, Prime Minister Mahmoud al-Zoubi's administration failed to prevent the Syrian Pound from losing more than 90% of its value against the US Dollar. Over this period, the exchange rate plummeted from 3 to 47 pounds per US Dollar.

Downfall and the Airbus deal controversy On 10 May 2000, Hafez Assad expelled Al-Zoubi from the Ba'ath Party and decided that Al-Zoubi should be prosecuted over a scandal involving the French aircraft manufacturer Airbus. Conflicting reports say he died at age 62 In June 2000, according to Lara Marlowe, there were persistent rumours that Al-Zoubi was actually murdered.

Al-Zoubi was buried at his birthplace in southern Syria. Sources said the funeral at Kirbit Ghazali, about 100 km south of Damascus, was a simple ceremony limited to his close family members and some of his hometown people.