 ja'far pasha al-askari (september 15, 1885 - october 29, 1936) served twice as prime minister of iraq: from november 22, 1923, to august 3, 1924; and from november 21, 1926, to december 31, 1927. al-askari served in the ottoman empire army during world war i until he was captured by british forces attacking the empire from egypt. after he was released he was converted to the cause of arab nationalism and joined forces with amir faisal and t. e. lawrence (lawerence of arabia), with his brother-in-law, nuri as-said, who would also serve as prime minister of iraq. al-askari took part in the conquest of damascus in 1918 and supported placing faisal on the syrian throne. when faisal was deposed by the french in 1920, he advocated granting him a new throne in iraq. as a reward for his loyalty, faisal granted al-askari several important cabinet positions, including minister of defense in the first iraqi government. he served as prime minister twice, and was also minister of foreign affairs. al-askari was minister of defense in yasin al-hashimi's government when it was overthrown by chief of staff bakr sidqi in 1936, in iraq's first coup. al-askari was assassinated during the coup. ==early life and ottoman army career== jaâfar pasha al-askari was born on september 15, 1885 in baghdad, when it was still part of the ottoman empire. the fourth of five brothers and one sister, his family were of turkish origin. his father, mustafa abdul rahman al-mudarris, was a colonel in the ottoman army. jaâfar attended the military college in baghdad before transferring to the military college in the ottoman capital of constantinople where he graduated in 1904 as a second lieutenant. he was then sent to the sixth army stationed in baghdad. jaâfar then was sent to berlin, germany from 1910-1912 to train and study as part of an ottoman initiative to reform the army through the selection of officers via competition. al-askari stayed in this program until ordered back to the 
1887_births 1936_deaths Iraqi_Arab_nationalists Ottoman_Arabs Ottoman_Army_officers Ottoman_Military_Academy_alumni Ottoman_Military_College_alumni Ottoman_military_personnel_of_World_War_I Ottoman_prisoners_of_war People_from_Baghdad Prime_Ministers_of_Iraq World_War_I_prisoners_of_war_held_by_the_United_Kingdom