 The Syrian Regional Branch began denouncing Aflaq as a " thief " . They claimed that he had stolen the Ba 'athist ideology from Zaki al @-@ Arsuzi and proclaimed it as his own , with Assad hailing Arsuzi as the principal founder of Ba 'athist thought . The Iraqi Regional Branch , however , still proclaimed Aflaq as the founder of Ba 'athism . Assad has referred to Arsuzi as the " greatest Syrian of his day " and claimed him to be the " first to conceive of the Ba 'ath as a political movement . " Aflaq was condemned to death in absentia in 1971 by Assad 's government . The Syrian Regional Branch erected a statue in Arsuzi 's honour not long after the 1966 coup . Nevertheless , the majority of Ba 'ath followers outside Syria still view Aflaq , not Arsuzi , as the principal founder of Ba 'athism . 
