In service of a nation

Abdul Rahman Al Bazzaz (1913-1971) was an Iraqi academic who became a key politician before Baathism.

Born in Baghdad, Al Bazzaz studied law at the University of Baghdad and King's College in London before returning to his alma mater where he served as dean of the law school between 1955 and 1956.

He lost his post because he protested the suppression of free speech by the Noori Al Said government. Following the coup that overthrew the Hashemite monarchy of Faysal II in 1958, Al Bazzaz became president of the Court of Cassation but fell afoul of General Abdul Karim Qasim in 1960, when he was briefly imprisoned before retiring to Cairo.

After the military coup d'état that killed Qasim, Al Bazzaz returned to Iraq in early 1963, began a diplomatic career that resulted in his appointment as ambassador to Cairo and London. Between May 1, 1964, and April 30, 1965, he served as the secretary-general of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).

He then became foreign minister for a few months in 1965 before assuming the premiership the same year.

Al Bazzaz remained prime minister of Iraq until president Abdul Salam Arif was killed in a helicopter crash in 1966, when he acted as the temporary president of Iraq for three days in 1966 (April 13-April 16), a position he turned over to Arif's brother, Abdul Rahman Arif, chosen as the permanent replacement by the Iraqi parliament. In August 1966, Al Bazzaz left the position of prime minister and was succeeded by Naji Taleb, who served from 1966 to 1967.

A staunch advocate of Arab nationalism, democracy and the rule of law, Al Bazzaz earned many enemies among Iraq's military and tribal elite during his short tenure as prime minister and was forced out of office and later arrested.

During his tenures as premier, Al Bazzaz brought about a settlement of the Kurdish war as he believed that a peaceful resolution was a must. In July 1969, the new Baathist government announced that he was to be tried with 19 others on a charge of conspiracy to overthrow the government.

Al Bazzaz was released, however, in 1970. He died a year later in London.