page_title: Abd al-Rahman al-Bazzaz
section_title: Political career
hierarchical_section_title: Abd al-Rahman al-Bazzaz / Political career
caption_attribution_description: English: Iraqi Prime Minister Abd al-Rahman al-Bazzaz (left) meeting with Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in Cairo العربية: رئيس الوزراء العراقي عبد الرحمن البزاز في لقاءه مع الرئيس المصري جمال عبد الناصر في القاهرة
context_page_description: Abd al-Rahman al-Bazzaz was a politician, reformist, and writer. He was a pan-Arab nationalist and served as the Dean of Baghdad Law College and later as Prime Minister of Iraq. Al-Bazzaz main political project was the professionalization of the government through increasing access to civilian expertise. That civic agenda came at the expense of the military. Al-Bazzaz was charged by the Ba'athist-dominated government of participation in activities against the government and he was tortured and imprisoned. Al-Bazzaz was finally released because of illness in 1970 and moved to London for treatment where he later died in Baghdad, 28 June 1973.
context_section_description: Al-Bazzaz returned to Iraq after the military overthrew the Qasim administration in 1963.  From 1963 to 1966, President Abd al-Salam Arif appointed al-Bazzaz to several government positions. He was selected as ambassador to the United Arab Republic and later he became the ambassador to England. In 1964 and 1965, he was the secretary-general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. In September 1965, he was appointed as deputy prime minister.  The then prime minister, Arif Abd ar-Razzaq, tried to start a revolt and seize power. However he was unsuccessful and President Arif invited al-Bazzaz to form a new government. Al-Bazzaz was the first civilian prime minister of Iraq.
  President Arif died suddenly in April 1966 in a plane crash, and al-Bazzaz became acting President for three days. A power struggle for the presidency occurred. In the first meeting of the Defense Council and Cabinet to elect a president, Al-Bazzaz needed a two-thirds majority to win the presidency. Al-Bazzaz was unsuccessful and Abd al-Rahman Arif was elected as president. He asked al-Bazzaz to form a new cabinet in April 1966. Then al-Bazzaz was pressured to resign by a variety of political groups, including the Ba'athists. The leaders of these groups were military officers who were against al-Bazzaz's goal to reduce military salaries, privileges and power.
  The Ba'athists and Nasserists accused al-Bazzaz of being an adversary of Arab socialism and being against the proposed union of Egypt and Iraq. In January 1969, he was charged by the Ba'athist government of participation in activities against the government. He was tortured and imprisoned for fifteen months. In 1970, he was released from jail because he became ill and he went to London for treatment. He later died in Baghdad 28 June 1973.
caption: Al-Bazzaz (left) with Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser in Cairo, February 1966
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