Nuri Pasha Al-Saeed is considered one of the most prominent masters of Iraqi and Arab politics during the monarchy in Iraq, as he had cunning, influence and a rare personality that contributed to making important events in the first half of the 20th century.
On such days in July 1952, Nuri al-Said announced the resignation of his 11th government, the 43rd Iraqi government, two years after its formation, as he led about 14 Iraqi ministries over 4 decades of his political career, and after 6 years from that date, al-Saeed met His death on July 16, 1958, two days after the overthrow of the monarchy in Iraq.
Al-Wondawi confirmed that the main change in Al-Saeed's life was in Istanbul when he joined the Secret Covenant Society (Al-Jazeera)
his career
Nuri Al-Saeed was born in the heart of the capital, Baghdad, and belongs to the middle class, as his father worked as a financial clerk in the Ottoman bureaus and departments. He sent his son Nuri to study at the Ottoman military schools in Baghdad, and after graduating there he joined the military colleges in Istanbul, according to a professor of Iraq history. Contemporary politician Dr. Muayyad Al-Wandawi.
Al-Wandawi shows to Al-Jazeera Net that the main change in Al-Saeed's life was in Istanbul when he joined the Secret Covenant Society, which included a group of Arab scholars in Turkish military and civil schools, and these were thinking about the independence and unity of the Arabs.
He added that "before the outbreak of the First World War, he was assigned to prepare and organize the Royal Guard in Muscat, and after his return he was brought before the British Sir Percy Cox, who was surprised by Nuri Al-Said's request for Britain's support to establish an Arab army of 40,000 soldiers, and he incites the officers in the Ottoman army to leave the forces Ottoman Empire and join this army.
Alondawi considered that request a great matter for a young man like him who was still in the prime of life thinking in this way, and this was in the late year 1914 and years before the Arab revolution, but Sir Cox wrote to his government that he saw in him a dreamy young man, and decided to exile him to Bombay for a monthly salary of 250 rupees Paid from the budget of the city of Basra imports, to be placed under the control of the Indian authorities.
One of the books documenting the biography of Nuri Al-Saeed (Al-Jazeera)
14 government
Al-Saeed was one of the first to join the army of Sharif Ali, and occupied large advanced positions in this army, according to Al-Wandawi, and after the British government began to think about building and strengthening the first Iraqi government, the Iraqi Arab officers in the army of Sharif Ali were allowed to come to Baghdad, and he was the first to return as a supporter of the king Faisal was assigned the duties of the Director General of Police, and this was his first job in the Iraqi state.
He added, "After that, he rose to military positions until the suicide of Prime Minister Mohsen al-Sadoun, where King Faisal began to lean towards him to form his first Iraqi government, and he succeeded in negotiating with Britain and signing the 1930 agreement that ended the British Mandate over Iraq, and was able to secure Iraq's entry into the League of Nations in 1932." .
Al-Windawi points out that one of the most important historical stations in the life of Nuri al-Saeed was his having to flee Baghdad with the first military coup of the Iraqi army in 1936, in which his brother-in-law Jaafar Pasha al-Askari was killed, and he fled to Cairo and stayed there until the coup leader Bakr Sidqi was killed, then returned to Baghdad.
After this date, he became the central leader in Iraqi politics in exchange for Rashid Ali al-Jilani, but the political struggle for power between the two men led him again to flee - with the help of the British - to Cairo again through Jordan, due to the events of 1941 and the Iraqi-British war at that time, and after the war. He returned to Baghdad and became the number one man in Iraqi politics.
He points out that Al-Saeed - who led 14 governments - was subjected to many criticisms and accusations, including being harsh in punishing those responsible for the events of 1941, as well as weakening the Iraqi army for accepting the idea of the British to be two divisions instead of four, and so on.
And the professor of contemporary political history of Iraq continues, "Nuri al-Saeed's concern about the Cold War preoccupied him with foreign policy a lot, but his alliance with the West proved its failure through the complicity of the West once in the theft of Palestine, and once in encouraging Israel to wage wars, and in return it did not provide him with anything, and this led The monarchy to fall."
Al-Wandawi asserts that all the ministries of the monarchy - which were established after World War II - were either their chief or participated in their formation, and he was achieving the majority in pluralist elections, and he did not define himself on a clan, sectarian or religious basis, but was satisfied with the Iraqi al-Baghdadi.
He concludes that Nuri al-Said's last achievement was the establishment of the Hashemite Union between Iraq and Jordan in early 1958, to become the first prime minister of a unified Arab state.
Al-Allaf: Al-Saeed used to compose his ministries in difficult times that need to do important work (Al-Jazeera)
His 11th Ministry
Nuri Al-Saeed used to form his 14 ministries in difficult times that needed to do important work and quick measures, amid conditions that Iraq was at a crossroads, according to professor of modern history, Dr. Ibrahim Khalil Al-Allaf.
Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Allaf explains that the 11th Ministry of Nuri Al-Saeed was formed in September 1950 and resigned in July 1952, and it was a mini-government of 7 ministers with Prime Minister Nuri Al-Said, who retained the position of Acting Minister of Interior.
He adds that Al-Saeed was aware of the size of the responsibility that was placed on him, so he stressed in his speech during his briefing ceremony that it was a difficult task in delicate circumstances, and that he wanted to improve the economic situation, and summarized his government's approach to starting reconstruction, getting closer to citizens, addressing unemployment, spending money, and gaining trust and unify the ranks.
Al-Allaf continues that the amendment of the oil concessions was one of the most prominent achievements of this government, and amendments were also made to the election law, and this amendment was the reason for submitting its resignation and opening a new page in the country's history.
In turn, the legal expert and historian Tariq Harb says that Nuri Al-Saeed is the person who created the state of Iraq, as there was only Baghdad, and there were the two states of Basra and Mosul, so he agreed with the British when they entered in 1917 to annex Basra to Baghdad, while Mosul was delayed until its accession 1924 due to the presence of the Ottomans at the time.
Harb adds to Al Jazeera Net that the 11th government of Nuri Al-Saeed witnessed the beginning of architectural openness, as no less than 40% of the oil prices were deducted for the reconstruction of Iraq, and therefore the major facilities that are still immortal until now, such as the Dukan Dam, Darbandikhan Dam, Lake Al-Habbaniyah and Al-Tharthar Dam, were built, and others.
And about Nuri Al-Saeed's work after his resignation until the other government takes over, Harb says that sometimes he takes over one of the ministries, and sometimes he stays outside the political arena.
The putschists feared Nuri al-Saeed for his great ability to maneuver and thwart their plan (Al-Jazeera)
circumstances of his death
After the July 14, 1958 coup - which led to the fall of the monarchy - Baghdad Radio issued a statement allocating 10,000 dinars for those who provide information leading to the arrest of Nuri al-Saeed, a large sum sufficient to buy two homes at that time, according to researcher and historian Zaid Khaldoun.
Khaldoun adds to Al Jazeera Net that it was natural for the revolutionaries to fear Nuri Al-Saeed, as he was the real ruler of Iraq, and he might maneuver to topple them, so their plan was to kill him.
Khaldoun recounts the details of the last hours of Nuri al-Saeed, as he traveled disguised between a number of the homes of his close associates in Baghdad, and he expected the intervention of the member states of the Baghdad Pact to restore order, but the intervention did not take place, and the Basha said, "They betrayed Iraq again."
While Al-Saeed was trying to escape, he saw a police car from which his escort, Wasfi Taher, got out to realize that he had been betrayed, so he shot himself - according to Khaldoun - and then Wasfi shot the body of Al-Saeed, in order to prove his loyalty to Abdul Karim Qassem, and to be falsely proud that he was the one who had He was killed, and this moment was a radical change in the history of Iraq.
There are other accounts about the circumstances of his death, most notably that Al-Saadi was trapped after trying to hide in the house of his friend, Member of Parliament Sheikh Muhammad Al-Araibi in the Al-Bataween area in central Baghdad, and he was unable to enter the house or escape through the nearby alleys, and here the accounts differed about his death. He was wounded by a number of shots by one of the elements of the attacking force, which led to his death, and another narration mentions that when he found himself besieged and that his fate would be similar to that of Crown Prince Abdul Ilah, he shot himself with a bullet of mercy, so as not to give an opportunity to his opponents by holding him, insulting and torturing him.