Abdul Karim Kassem

Abdul Karim Kassem (1914-1963), premier of Iraq and leader of the military coup that in 1958 overthrew the monarchy of King Faisal II. Born in Baghdad, Kassem graduated from the Baghdad Military College at the age of 20 and began his soldier's career as a second lieutenant. After serving with infantry units, he was assigned in 1939 as an instructor at the military college, and in 1941 he graduated from the Iraq Staff College. He served as a major and battalion commander in the army, and in 1955 he was appointed brigadier general and placed in command of the 19th Infantry Brigade.

During these years Kassem was the leader of a revolutionary movement in the army that had laid careful plans for overthrow of the government. On July 14, 1958, Kassem's brigade and other army units staged a coup d'etat resulting in the murder of Faisal. Iraq was declared a republic, and Kassem was made both premier and minister of defense in a new revolutionary regime.

Kassem described the foreign policy of the new government as one of 'positive neutrality,' but as events progressed he appeared to be forming bonds with the Communist bloc. By 1959, however, he was evidently attempting to restrain pro-Soviet activity in Iraq by purging communist elements from the government and the police.

A series of revolts within the country made Kassem's rule a difficult one. Kassem aroused the resentment of President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt by refusing to unite Iraq with the United Arab Republic (UAR), the federation of Egypt and Syria established by Nasser in 1958. In September 1959 it was reported that the UAR had financed Kassem’s opponents in a military revolt in the Mosul area of Iraq. Kassem’s resulting executions of officers he considered untrustworthy may have led to his attempted assassination on October 7, when he was shot several times and narrowly escaped death.

A number of other rebellious activities further weakened Kassem's regime, including a revolt begun by the Kurds for ethnic autonomy in September 1961. On February 8, 1963, a coup led by Iraqi air force officers, most of them members of the nationalist Baath party, ousted Kassem's government. Kassem and three of his aides were executed on the following day. See also Iraq