'File 11/44 Leading Personalities in Iraq, Iran & Saudi Arabia' [‎30r] (59/96)

19
• •
1 A
r. n
reformed Cabinet in June 1937. He resigned in
August 1937 with the whole Cabinet.
Elected Deputy for Arbil December 1937 but lost
his seat in June 1939.
Appointed Minister of Communications and Works
in the Cabinet formed by Rashid Ali in April 1941.
On the collapse of Rashid Ali’s rebellion at the end
of May 1941, he fled to Persia and was handed over
by the Persian Government to the British military
authorities in September 1941. Imprisoned at
Ahwaz and subsequently sent to Southern Rhodesia
to be interned. Sent back for trial in March 1944.
Sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. Released
in July >1947.
77. Muhammad Amin Zaki
A Kurd of Sulaimani. Born 1880. Well educated
and speaks French, German and English. Formerly
staff officer in Turkish army. Was made Minister
for Communications and Works in November 1926,
and subsequently held the portfolios of Education
and Defence. Exerted little influence in the Cabinets
in which he has held office. His policy is to try to
please the Kurds by supporting Kurdish Nationalists
without compromising his position with the Arabs.
Lost his seat in the Chamber in the general election
of 1930. Again Minister for Economics and Com
munications July 1931. Resigned October 1932.
ointed Director-General of Economics and Com-
n.anications March 1933, but became unemployed
when this post was abolished in September 1934.
Became Minister for Economics and Communica
tions in March 1935 in Yasin Pasha’s Cabinet.
Resigned when the Cabinet fell in October 1936.
Elected Deputy for Sulaimani in December 1937
and again in June 1939. Became Minister for
Economics in March 1940 in Rashid Ali’s third
Cabinet.
Resigned in July 1940 on account of severe illness.
Appointed Minister of Communications and Works
in the Cabinet formed by Nuri-al-Said in October
1941. Resigned in February 1942 on account of ill-
health. Made a Senator December 1943.
78. Muhammad Hassan Kubba
Shiah of Bagdad. Born 1891. Belongs to the old
family of Kubba. In 1920 was associated with the
Nationalist activities of Ja’far Chalabi Abu Timman.
In 1923 he entered the service of the Ministry of
^stice. Served as a judge in many parts of the
. country and also held posts in the Ministry. In
December 1943 he joined the Cabinet as Minister for
Social Affairs under Nuri Said. Retained this
position in the Cabinet of Hamdi al Pachachi which
followed Nuri’s resignation in June 1944, but became
President of the Chamber of Deputies on the resigna
tion of Muhammad Ridha-al-Shabibi in December
1944.
Joined the Al Umari Cabinet in June 1946 as
Minister of Justice. The Prime Minister’s inter
ference with the Courts however soon caused him
uneasiness and he w r anted to resign in August, only
remaining in office at the Regent’s request. Senator
2nd July, 1947.
79. Muhammad Hussein el Had id
Born Mosul 1906. Sunni Muslim. Merchant.
Muhammad el Hadid was educated at Mosul
Mutawassit School until 1924, when he went to
Beirut. He returned from Beirut in 1928 and almost
immediately went to England to continue his edu
cation at the London School of Economics. After
returning to Iraq in 1931 he was appointed to a post
in the Ministry of Finance which he held until 1937,
when he was elected as a Deputy for Mosul. He
then went into business with Kamil el Khedeiri,
Muhammad Ja’afar Abul Tummen and others and
formed the “ El Skerikat el Ziyut Wal Nabitiyeh
and engaged in a considerable export trade. He is
still (1946) a partner in that company. His father,
Haji Hussein, is reputed to be one of the wealthiest
men in Mosul, w'hile Muhammad el Hadid himself
has married the daughter of the man who, by
common talk, is probably the richest in the Liwa,
if not in the whole of Iraq.
Through his friendship with Kamil el Chadarchi,
and possibly through contacts while in England, he
became interested at an early date in the “Pro
gressive ” Movement and w r as one of the signatories
to the application for the founding of the Hizb el
Watani el Democrati, of which he is the vice-
president.
He has made many heated speeches attacking
“ colonisation ” and professing to support “ Pro
gress,” all with a strong anti-British bias, but it is
stated that he has always opposed violence and was
against the general strike of July 1946. He has
many British friends, to whom his frankness appeals.
His son is being educated at Victoria College.
Is generally looked upon as being a pleasant,
shrewd man. In September 1946 he wrote an
article on Iraq in the New Statesman and Nation
wffiich attacked the Umari regime, as a result of
which the paper was excluded from Iraq.
He was defeated in the 1947 elections, owing to
Government pressure, but he appears less em
bittered than others who underwent the same
experience. Unconfirmed reports state that he is
not unconnected with the Russian Legation.
80. Muhammad Husain Kashif-al-Ghata
(Saiyid)
Shiah Alim of Najaf. One of the few Arab Divines
of importance.
Attended the Moslem Conference at Jerusalem in
1931 as Iraqi delegate. Visited Persia on a prolonged
tour in the summer of 1933, and returned to Iraq in
February 1934. In the spring of 1935 he took a
prominent part in the tribal insurrections on the
Euphrates, and gave his full support to the tribes
which took up arms against Yasin Pasha’s Govern
ment. He hoped to persuade them to make a united
front with the Ulama in an attempt to force on the
Government a series of sectarian demands intended
to secure for the Shiah community a greater share
in the government of the country. He was only
partially successful and, after the defeat of the tribes
by the army, he wisely withdrew to silence in the
shrines of Najaf.
Declared a jihad for Palestine in the summer of
1938.
In 1939 it was suspected that he had accepted
money from the German Legation to foster anti-
British feeling.
Issued a fatwa against the British during Rashid
Ali’s rebellion in May 1941. His nephew, Ahamad
Kashif-al-Ghata, actively supported Rashid Ali and
was interned in August 1*941 at Fao, but was released
in August 1944.
81. Muhammad Ridha-al-Shabibi
Shiah of Bagdad, born about 1880. Belongs
to a well-known family. Member of Constituent
Assembly and Minister for Education in Yasin
Pasha’s Cabinet in 1924. Again given the portfolio
of Education in the Cabinet formed by Y'asin Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
in March 1935. His reactionary views soon brought
him into conflict with his colleagues and with the
chief permanent officials of his Ministry, and he
resigned in September 1935. He became President
of the Senate, February 1937, and was reappointed
Minister for Education in Jamil-al-Madfai’s Cabinet
in August 1937. He is president of the Bagdad
branch of the Pen Club and has a considerable
reputation as a man of letters. Resigned with Jamil-
al-Madfai in December 1938.
n 2
35143