ʿAbd al-Salam Mohammed ʿArif al-Jumayli ( ar, عبد السلام محمد عارف الجميلي'; 21 March 1921 – 13 April 1966) was the second
president of Iraq
The president of Iraq is the head of state of Iraq and "safeguards the commitment to the Constitution and the preservation of Iraq's independence, sovereignty, unity, the security of its territories in accordance with the provisions of the Con ...
from 1963 until his death in a plane crash in 1966. He played a leading role in the
14 July Revolution
The 14 July Revolution, also known as the 1958 Iraqi coup d'état, took place on 14 July 1958 in Iraq, and resulted in the overthrow of the Hashemite monarchy in Iraq that had been established by King Faisal I in 1921 under the auspices of the B ...
, in which the
Hashemite monarchy was overthrown on 14 July 1958.
1958 coup and conflict with Qasim
Along with
Abdel Karim Qasim
Abd al-Karim Qasim Muhammad Bakr al-Fadhli al-Zubaidi ( ar, عبد الكريم قاسم ' ) (21 November 1914 – 9 February 1963) was an Iraqi Army brigadier and nationalist who came to power when the Iraqi monarchy was overthrown ...
and other Iraqi military officers, Arif was a member of the clandestine organisation, the Free Officers of Iraq. Like Qasim, Arif served with distinction in the otherwise unsuccessful 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, where he captured Jenin in what is now the West Bank part of Palestine. During the summer of 1958, Prime Minister
Nuri as-Sa'id ordered Iraqi troops under Arif to aid
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Ri ...
, as part of an agreement of the
Arab Federation
The Hashemite Arab Federation was a short-lived country that was formed in 1958 from the union between the Hashemite Kingdoms of Iraq and Jordan. Although the name implies a federal structure, it was ''de facto'' a confederation.
The Federation ...
. Instead, however, he led his army units into
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesipho ...
and on 14 July launched a
coup against the
Hashemite monarchy. Qasim formed a government under the newly proclaimed republic and Arif, his chief aide, was appointed deputy prime minister, interior minister, and deputy commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
[Ismael, Ismael, and Abu Jaber, 1991, pp. 158–159.]
Almost immediately however, tensions rose between the
pan-Arabist Arif and Iraqi nationalist Qasim who also had the support of the
Iraqi Communist Party. The former supported a union with the
United Arab Republic
The United Arab Republic (UAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية المتحدة, al-Jumhūrīyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 until 1971. It was initially a political union between Eg ...
(UAR)—composed of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
and
Syria—under president
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-r ...
, but the latter opposed merging with the UAR. As a result, the two leaders engaged in a power struggle, ending in Qasim prevailing and the removal of Arif from his positions on 12 September. He was appointed the low-ranking post of ambassador to
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
. Arif refused to take up the post and upon returning to Baghdad on 4 November, he was promptly arrested for plotting against the state. He was sentenced to death along with
Rashid Ali al-Gaylani in February 1959.
Qasim had him released in November 1961.
[Ismael, Ismael, and Abu Jaber, 1991, p.163.]
President of Iraq
Qasim was overthrown on 8 February 1963, by a coalition of
Ba'athists, army units, and other pan-Arabist groups. Arif had previously been selected as the leader of the
Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council and after the coup he was elected president of Iraq due to his popularity.
Qasim pleaded with Arif to be exiled instead of executed and reminded Arif that he had commuted his death sentence two years before. Nonetheless, Arif demanded that Qasim swear to the
Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...
that it was he, Arif, who had been the real leader of the 1958 coup. Qasim refused and was consequently executed.
Although he was chosen as president, more power was held by the Ba'athist secretary general
Ali Salih al-Sa'di and Ba'athist prime minister,
Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr. Following a
Ba'athist-led coup in Syria in March 1963, Arif entered his country into unification talks with Syria and Egypt (which had split from the UAR in 1961). After a fallout with Nasser in July, the Ba'athist government of Iraq removed all non-Ba'athist members from the cabinet, despite Arif's support for Nasser.
On 18 November Arif, with the support of disaffected elements in the military, took advantage of a split between the Ba'ath—which weakened the party—and ousted their members from the government. Arif formed a new cabinet, retaining a few Ba'athists, but mostly made up of
Nasserist
Nasserism ( ) is an Arab nationalist and Arab socialist political ideology based on the thinking of Gamal Abdel Nasser, one of the two principal leaders of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and Egypt's second President. Spanning the domestic ...
army officers and technocrats. He maintained his presidency and appointed himself chief-of-staff. A month later he handed the latter post to his brother General
Abdul Rahman Arif
Hajj ʿAbd al-Rahman Mohammed ʿArif al-Jumayli ( ar, عبد الرحمن محمد عارف الجميلي, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ʿĀrif; 14 April 191624 August 2007) was a career soldier and the third president of Iraq from 16 April 1966 to 17 J ...
, and the premiership to his confidant Lieutenant-General
Tahir Yahya
Tahir Yahya ( ar, طاهر يحيى; 1916 – 1986) was Prime Minister of Iraq twice, from 1963 to 1965 and a short term in 1967–1968. He was educated at the Baghdad Military College and the Staff College. Born in Tikrit 1916. He was the 4th chi ...
.
[Ismael, Ismael, and Abu Jaber, 1991, pp. 164–165.] In the fall of 1964, the Ba'ath attempted to depose Arif, but failed when their plot was unveiled. Arif had the conspirators, including
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...
, arrested.
On 26 May 1964, Arif established the Joint Presidency Council with Egypt. On 14 July the anniversary of the revolution, he declared the establishment of the
Arab Socialist Union
The Arab Socialist Union may refer to:
*Arab Socialist Union (Egypt), active 1962–78
*Arab Socialist Union (Iraq), active 1964–68
*Libyan Arab Socialist Union, active 1971−77
*Arab Socialist Union Party (Syria), founded in 1973
*Democratic Ar ...
(ASU) of Iraq, commending it as the "threshold of the building of the unity of the
Arab nation under
Arab socialism
Arab socialism ( ar, الإشتِراكيّة العربية, Al-Ishtirākīya Al-‘Arabīya) is a political ideology based on the combination of pan-Arabism and socialism. Arab socialism is distinct from the much broader tradition of socialis ...
." It was nearly identical in structure the ASU of Egypt and like in Egypt, many of the Arab nationalist parties were dissolved and absorbed by the ASU.
Also, all banks and over thirty major Iraqi businesses were nationalized. Arif undertook these measures in an effort to bring Iraq closer with Egypt to help foster unity and on 20 December plans for union were announced. Despite this, in July 1965, the Nasserist ministers resigned from the Iraqi cabinet.
[Ismael, Ismael, and Abu Jaber, 1991, p. 166.] President Arif played a major role in Iraq construction and developing its infrastructure.
Death
On 13 April 1966, Arif was killed in the crash of
Iraqi Air Force
The Iraqi Air Force (IQAF or IrAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية العراقية, Al Quwwat al Jawwiyah al Iraqiyyah}) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It is responsible for the defense of Iraqi airspace as well ...
de Havilland DH.104 Dove 1, ''RF392'', in southern Iraq, and was replaced as president by his brother Abdul Rahman.
Reports at the time said Arif had died in a helicopter accident.
Abd al-Rahman al-Bazzaz became acting president for three days, and a power struggle for the presidency occurred. In the first meeting of the Defense Council and cabinet to elect a president, Al-Bazzaz needed a two-thirds majority to win the presidency. Al-Bazzaz was unsuccessful, and
Abdul Rahman Arif
Hajj ʿAbd al-Rahman Mohammed ʿArif al-Jumayli ( ar, عبد الرحمن محمد عارف الجميلي, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ʿĀrif; 14 April 191624 August 2007) was a career soldier and the third president of Iraq from 16 April 1966 to 17 J ...
was elected president. He was viewed by army officers as weaker and easier to manipulate than his brother.
Family
On 13 December 2004, Arif's daughter, Sana Abdul Salam, and her husband, Wamith Abdul Razzak Said Alkadiry, were shot dead in their home in Baghdad by unknown assailants. Rafal Alkadiry, their 22-year-old son, was kidnapped,
Iraqi voter registration site attacked
CNN. 18 December 2004 and later killed.
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Arif, Abdul Salam
20th-century rulers in Asia
1921 births
1966 deaths
Arab Socialist Union (Iraq) politicians
Field marshals of Iraq
Iraqi Arab nationalists
Iraqi revolutionaries
Iraqi socialists
Iraqi Sunni Muslims
Nasserists
People from Baghdad
Presidents of Iraq
State leaders killed in aviation accidents or incidents
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Iraq
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1966
Muslim socialists