Abd al-Rahman al-Bazzaz

Abd al-Rahman al-Bazzaz (Arabic: عبد الرحمن البزاز; 20 February 1913 – 28 June 1973) was an Iraqi 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.

During the 1930s, he became an affiliate of the Muthanna and Jawwal clubs, the academic focus of which was pan-Arabism and encouraging Arab nationalism.

Al-Bazzaz graduated from the Baghdad Law College in 1934.

The Muthanna Club was established in Baghdad in 1935 and was an influential radical pan-Arab and pan-Islamic fascist society which collapsed with the Rashid Ali al-Gaylani rebellion.

In 1938 Al-Bazzaz completed his law studies at King's College London.

In 1941 al-Bazzaz supported the Iraqi coup d'état.

After the coup failed, al-Bazzaz was incarcerated during the Second World War but he was released at the end of the war.

After the war, al-Bazzaz was chosen as the dean of the Baghdad Law College.

In 1956 he was forced out of this role by the government for protesting against the invasion of Egypt by France, Britain and Israel.

He signed a petition that was very critical of the Iraqi government's stand during the Suez crisis under the premiership of Nuri as-Said, a staunch opponent of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Al-Bazzaz returned to the Baghdad Law College as the dean after the revolution in 1958.

Al-Bazzaz's interest in the pan-Arab movement again put him into disagreement with the government, this time with the new government of Abd al-Karim Qasim (1958–1963), an Iraqi nationalist aligned with communist forces.

Al-Bazzaz strongly promoted the rule of law and wanted to see an end to military officers dominating Iraq's politics as they had since the revolution in July 1958.

In 1959 Colonel ‘Abd al-Wahhab al-Shawwaf, who was the Commander of the Mosul Garrison, instigated a rebellion.

After four days of fighting, he was killed and the uprising was crushed.

Following the collapse of the Shawwaf uprising, al-Bazzaz was arrested and tortured.

After his release, al-Bazzaz went to Egypt, where he became the dean of the Institute of Arab Studies at the Arab League.

Al-Bazzaz was a prolific writer.

He published more than twelve books about law, Iraq's history, Arab nationalism and Islam.

In his writings, he saw no obvious contradiction between Arab nationalism and Islam.

Arab nationalism was not based on race or solidarity of blood.

It was based on ties of language, history, spirituality and basic interests in life.

In addition to being a religious belief, Islam was viewed as a social system, a philosophy of life, a system of economics and of government.

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.

During his time as prime minister, Al-Bazzaz's government became increasingly controlled by civilian politicians.

Al-Bazzaz was finally released because of illness in 1970 and moved to London for treatment before later dying in Baghdad on 28 June 1973.

Abd al-Rahman al-Bazzaz was born to a Sunni Muslim family in Baghdad.

His brother was the plant ecologist, Fakhri A. Bazzaz.

He completed both elementary school and high school in Baghdad.