Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
Leyla Qasim was sixteen years old as Abdul Rahman Arif was overthrown by Ba'ath party leader, General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr in 1968. Leyla was disturbed by the violent takeover in the capital. During the late 1960s, Leyla and Çiyako wrote pamphlets on the horrors of the Ba'ath party including the new leader, Saddam Hussein, whom they described as being against Kurdish independence.