Ally of the Hashemites (center) during the
1925 Hama uprising In 1915, Nasib hosted Faisal at his Ghouta country house and invited him join al-Fatat, which he reportedly agreed to. In the summer of 1916, amid
World War I, Sharif Hussein launched the
Great Arab Revolt against the Ottomans from Mecca with the backing of the British military. Al-Bakri joined the revolt and moved to the Hejaz where he served as a channel between al-Fatat based in Damascus and the Hashemite forces leading the uprising. France invaded and began occupying Syria in 1919 and following the
Battle of Maysalun in July 1920, Faisal was exiled and the kingdom annulled. Al-Bakri left for
Amman in
Transjordan, which was under the authority of Faisal's brother
King Abdullah. Al-Bakri would later serve as Abdullah's aide in 1921, a position he held for about two years before returning to Syria after the French issued amnesty for political exiles. On his return, he became a member of al-Shahbandar's People's Party and actively sought to topple the French authorities in Syria and align the country with the ruling Hashemites in
Iraq, Transjordan and the Hejaz. The Hashemites were driven out of the latter in 1925 by the
Saudis. Al-Bakri set up a meeting between the Damascus-based nationalists and Sultan al-Atrash at his home in Qaboun, As al-Atrash's men headed towards Damascus to launch their attack against French forces there, al-Bakri assembled some 260 armed volunteers from various neighborhoods and villages in and around Damascus, including al-Shaghour,
Bab Musalla,
al-Midan, and Jaramana. Al-Bakri maintained particularly close ties to
Hasan al-Kharrat, the local boss (
qabaday) of al-Shaghur and a friend of the al-Bakri family. In early August, upon al-Bakri's urging, al-Kharrat formed a militia, which would become one of the most effective rebel bands in the country. When the French authorities were informed of nationalist rebel plans, they began a wide-scale arrest campaign in the city on 27 August, detaining nearly all of Damascus's nationalist leaders and spokesmen, although al-Bakri, his brothers, and al-Shahbandar managed to evade arrest. While al-Kharrat's men managed to capture the Azm Palace and the police station in
Bab Saghir, al-Bakri led a band of 200 fighters from their base in al-Midan to raid an Armenian refugee camp in
al-Qadam, killing several Armenian refugees. The rebels accused the
Armenians—who along with the
Circassians were typically allied with the French authorities—of participating in the French military assaults against several Ghouta villages in the preceding weeks. After attacking al-Qadam, al-Bakri's forces swept through the city, capturing the police stations at
Bab al-Jabiyah, Bab Musalla and
Qanawat. With each captured neighborhood, their forces increased in size as enthusiastic bystanders joined in the attacks. and al-Bakri escaped. He became the target of criticism among other rebel leaders, namely
Said al-'As. Al-'As stated that al-Bakri sought personal glory when he decided to prematurely launch a mostly uncoordinated attack with small numbers of armed volunteers, instead of waiting for the arrival of al-Atrash's reinforcements, who numbered around 1,000. Al-Bakri was the only member of the Damascus nationalist elite to directly participate in the fighting on the ground. In early December, al-Bakri chaired a meeting of rebel leaders in the Ghouta village of
Saqba. During the meeting, he launched scathing criticism of
Ramadan al-Shallash, the rebel commander from
Deir ez-Zor, condemning him for levying heavy fines and other fees against the residents of the villages of
Douma,
al-Qisa,
Harran al-Awamid and
al-Midaa which had been captured by the rebels. However, these taxes were almost entirely directed at the major landowners and city elites, rather than the commoners or peasants. 'As defended al-Shallash as a skilled commander, criticized al-Bakri's leadership and accused him of holding "secret hatreds and ambitions". Nonetheless, al-Bakri and his ally al-Kharrat managed to have al-Shallash "expelled from the rebellion" during the meeting, and stripped of his arms and insignia. However, subsequent French bombardment of Saqba allowed al-Shallash to escape punishment. Al-Kharrat was killed in a French raid two weeks later, while al-Shallash defected to the French following his expulsion. Al-Bakri's younger brother As'ad was killed in action in 1926.
Politician during French Mandatory rule , 1930s. To his right is Palestinian journalist
Mohamed Ali Eltaher and to his left is Egyptian diplomat
Muhammad Ali Alluba The revolt dissipated by June 1927. According to historian Peter A. Shambrook, al-Bakri's inclusion on the amnesty list was surprising for two reasons: he maintained a strong relationship with France's chief rivals in the region, the Hashemites and their British patrons, and he held "unrivaled" influence among the bosses of "the popular quarters of Damascus". The French sought to divide the ranks of the rebels and the nationalist politicians by pardoning some leaders and blacklisting others like al-Atrash, al-Shahbandar, and
Shukri al-Quwatli. Al-Bakri's relations with the latter two subsequently grew tense as he accused them of diverting funds for the revolt to their personal ventures. It sought to use diplomatic means to end French rule. He was a part of the 1928 Constitutional Assembly, helping draft a constitution for the Syrian Republic. Al-Atassi appointed him Vice President of the National Bloc in 1930. In January 1936, Syrian nationalist sentiments became incensed as the French authorities suspended parliament and appointed the pro-French president
Taj al-Din al-Hasani. Following the arrest of some nationalist leaders, a
general strike was declared against the French Mandate and President al-Hasani. Speeches denouncing the arrests and colonialism were made at the
Umayyad Mosque, after which demonstrators, including students and local youths, gathered at al-Bakri's home where they coordinated a march to the Serail (French government headquarters). The protests were led by al-Bakri, al-Quwatli and
Jamil Mardam Bey, but they were confronted by the security forces before leaving al-Bakri's street. On 24 January, al-Bakri led a sermon at the mosque calling for calm among the 3,000 demonstrators in attendance. Nonetheless, some 300 left to attack French roadblocks and the police station at
Souq al-Hamidiyya, before withdrawing back into the mosque. One protester was killed and the following day, al-Bakri led the funeral procession, which was attended by thousands of mourners. By mid-February, unrest spread throughout Syria and the authorities clashed with Syrian protesters in several cities. The commander of the French
Army of the Levant declared martial law and forbade public assemblies. Al-Bakri was arrested and deported on 11 February. He went on to win the election for his seat in 1936, 1943 and 1947. When al-Atassi became president in 1936, al-Bakri became the chief leader of the National Bloc. The following year, he was appointed by al-Atassi to serve as Governor of
Jabal al-Arab. In the short-lived 1939 cabinet of Prime Minister
Lutfi al-Haffar, Bakri was made
justice minister, while in Prime Minister
Khalid al-Azm's cabinet he served as national economy and agriculture minister. == Post-independence career ==