Al-Bakr, Ahmad Hassan

Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr was born on July 1, 1914 in Tikrit .

In 1938 he entered the military academy. In 1941, al-Bakr took an active part in the anti-British uprising of Rashid Ali al-Ghailani. After the suppression of the uprising, Ahmed Hassan was expelled from the armed forces, but in 1957 he managed to recover. The following year, a revolution took place in Iraq .

In the course of the armed coup on February 8, 1963, he became the Prime Minister of Iraq, as one of the leaders of the coup, a representative of the Ba'ath Party .

The Ba'ath Party, which had come to power, began, with the help of the National Guard, repression against the Communists and other opposition forces. From February to November 1963, about 5 thousand people were killed, and more than 10 thousand were thrown into prison. But at the same time, the contradictions between the Baath, Iraqi naserists and DAN , which differed in their views on the approach to the negotiations on the unification of Iraq with Egypt , aggravated, resulting in the disintegration of the Socialist bloc.

Repression by the government undermined confidence in the policies of the authorities from the feudal lords and peasants. At the same time, regular hostilities began in the north with the Kurdish rebels.

Attempts by the Baath to find a way out of this situation led to an aggravation of contradictions in the party leadership. In September 1963, two groups were formed in it, the differences between them turned into military clashes.

Aref took advantage of the situation and on November 18, with the support of the military, organized a coup d'etat , removing the Baathists from power. Many Ba'ath party leaders were arrested. In January 1964, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr lost the post of prime minister, and Tahir Yahya took his place. Removing the Baathists from power, Aref thus concentrated in his hands the full power and established a regime of military dictatorship in the country.

In February 1964, the Baath pan-Arab leadership decided to create a new Baath Iraqi leadership consisting of five people, among whom were General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr and Saddam Hussein , popular in the country. Ahmed Hassan Al-Bakr becomes Secretary General of the regional leadership of the Iraqi Baath Party.

In the spring of 1968, government crises followed one another in Iraq at a fast pace. In April, thirteen retired officers, two of whom were former prime ministers and five Ba'athists, submitted a memorandum to Arefu, demanding the dismissal of Prime Minister Tahir Yahya, the establishment of a legislative assembly and the formation of a new government. The following month, President Aref, fearing losing power, postponed for another two years the parliamentary elections, the drafting and enactment of the constitution, but a plot was being prepared against him.

The illegal organization of young officers, the Arab Revolutionary Movement , launched an active campaign against the government, with the aim of overthrowing the existing regime. To prepare for the coup, the leaders of this organization, Deputy Chief of the Second Intelligence Bureau, Colonel Abd-ar-Razzak al-Nayef, and Commander-in-Chief of the Presidential Guard, General Ibrahim Abd-ar-Rahman Daoud, established contact with the leaders of the Ba'ath Party - General Ahmed Hasan Al-Bakr, Saleh Mahdi Ammash, Hardan Tikriti and a group of conservative officers headed by General Abdel Aziz al-Okayli.

On July 17, 1968, as a result of a bloodless coup, the Ba'ath Party came to power in Iraq. Baghdad Radio announced another coup. This time, it sounded that the Ba'ath Party "took power and put an end to the corrupt and weak regime, which was represented by the clique of ignorant, illiterate self-lovers, thieves, spies and Zionists ."

President Abdel Rahman Aref (brother of the deceased president Abdel Salam Aref) was sent into exile in London. Having come to power, the Ba'athists immediately began to get rid of potential rivals. Fourteen days after the coup, conspirators Nayef, Daoud, and Nasser Al-Hani, who were part of the Arab Revolutionary Movement, were removed from power. Power was concentrated in the hands of al-Bakr.

After coming to power in the country, the Ba'ath Party formed the Revolutionary Command Council , headed by Ahmed Hassan Al-Bakr. In the Council’s list, the 31-year-old Saddam Hussein was listed at number 5. Saddam, deputy to Al-Bakr on the party and state lines, was responsible for internal security in the country, in other words, oversaw the party and state special services . Control over the security services allowed Saddam Hussein to further concentrate real power in his hands.

On July 16, 1979, Iraqi President Al-Bakr resigned, allegedly due to illness (claimed to be put under house arrest). His successor was declared Saddam Hussein, who also led the regional leadership of the Baath Party. In fact, Saddam Hussein thus assumed dictatorial powers.

• Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr (People and Events) // New time . - M. , 1968. - № 31 . - p . 26 .