Shukri Quwatli: sponsor of the Arab atom bomb

"President Quwwatli's volatile mood swings brought on by the stress of pursuing an unwinnable war caused him to lose his sense of judgment on numerous occasions. During one of the President's low periods, a poor man off the street managed to make his way into a presidential meeting by insisting that he could make an atom bomb out of a "secret liquid" he had prepared. Officials from the Ministry of Defense wanted to throw the disheveled man out onto the street, but the President insisted he be allowed into the meeting. The man explained that to complete his experiments he needed only a plane, bomb casings, and several hundred Syrian pounds in order to make an atomic weapon. Quwwatli immediately became hopeful and ordered the Defense Minister to prepare for the experiment without delay." (thanks Aron)