Abdul Salam Arif (21 March 1921-13 April 1966) was President of Iraq from 8 February 1963 to 13 April 1966, succeeding Muhammad Najib ar-Ruba'i and preceding Abdul Rahman Arif.
Biography[]
Abdul Salam Arif was born on 21 March 1921 in Baghdad, British Mandate of Mesopotamia, United Kingdom, the younger brother of Abdul Rahman Arif. He served in the First Arab-Israeli War with his brother in 1948 and launched a 1958 coup against the Kingdom of Iraq in the July 14 Revolution, capturing and killing Faisal II of Iraq and his family. Arif was made commander-in-chief and deputy of Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim, and he supported the creation of a United Arab Republic while Qasim was opposed; Arif was an Arab nationalist while Qasim was a leftist and ally of the Iraqi Communist Party. In February 1959, Arif and Rashid Ali al-Gaylani were arrested and sentenced to death by Qasim for plotting against the state, but he was released in 1961; in 1963, he launched a coup and overthrew the Qasim government, having him executed. On 8 February 1963, he became President of Iraq, and he put down a failed coup by the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, arresting half of their members (including Saddam Hussein). On 13 April 1966, his plane was sabotaged by Ba'athists and he died in the ensuing plane crash, and Abdul Rahman succeeded him as president.