Abdul Karim Kassem

Qassem, Abdul Karim (b. 1914, d. 9 Feb. 1963). Iraqi ruler 1958–63 Born in Baghdad the son of a carpenter, he joined the Iraqi army and rose to the rank of brigadier. Strongly nationalist and anti-British, he led the Iraqi Revolution of 14 July 1958. He named himself Prime Minister of the new Republic of Iraq, and was, in fact, its dictator. His rule was erratic, and increasingly reliant on the loyalty of the army. This disintegrated when he lost his claim for the incorporation of Kuwait because of British intervention in 1961. A rebellion in Kurdistan in 1961 tied down many of his loyal military units, and in 1963 a dissident army group, supporting his more extreme Ba'ath rivals, seized power. He was shot in the coup.

Abdul Karim Kassem , 1914-63, Iraqi general and politician. A graduate (1934) of the Iraqi military academy, he attended the army staff college. His outstanding bravery, shown in campaigns against the Kurds and in the Palestinian war of 1948, won him many military decorations. He organized the military coup that in July, 1958, overthrew the Iraqi monarchy and established Kassem as premier of the new republic. An Arab nationalist, he quelled a pro-Communist uprising in 1959. After this, Kassem's power and influence steadily deteriorated. He was overthrown and executed by military and civilian members of the Ba'ath party in Feb., 1963.