Abd al-Karim Qasim
 Abd al-Karim Qasim     (officer) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | November 1914 Baghdad, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | February 1963 (Age 48) Baghdad, Iraq |
| Nationality | Iraqi |
| Religion | Islam |
| Party | Independent, supported by the, National Democratic Party, Iraqi Communist Party |
Abd al-Karim Qasim Muhammad Bakr al-Fadhli al-Zubaidi was an Iraqi Army brigadier and nationalist who came to power when the Iraqi monarchy was overthrown during the 14 July Revolution. He ruled the country as the prime minister until his downfall and execution during the 1963 Ramadan Revolution.
In 1959, Saddam Hussein was part of a CIA-authorized six-man squad tasked with assassinating then Iraqi Prime Minister Qasim.[1]
Overthrow
Qasim was overthrown by the Ba'athist coup of 8 February 1963 known as the Ramadan Revolution. While the degree of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) involvement is still not proven, declassified documents and the testimony of former CIA officers indicate there was no direct American involvement, although the CIA was actively seeking to find a suitable replacement for Qasim within the Iraqi military and had been informed of an earlier Ba'athist coup plot by a high-ranking informant within the Party. [1]
Despite evidence that the CIA had been closely tracking the Ba'ath Party's coup planning since "at least 1961", the CIA official working with Archie Roosevelt Jr. on a separate plan to instigate a military coup against Qasim, and who later became the head of the CIA's operations in Iraq and Syria, has "denied any involvement in the Ba'ath Party's actions", stating instead that the CIA's efforts against Qasim were still in the planning stages at the time.[2]
References
- ↑ a b https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2003/04/10/Exclusive-Saddam-key-in-early-CIA-plot/65571050017416/
- ↑ Gibson, Bryan R. (2015). Sold Out? US Foreign Policy, Iraq, the Kurds, and the Cold War. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. xxi, 45, 49, 57–58, 121, 200.
