'File 11/44 Leading Personalities in Iraq, Iran & Saudi Arabia' [‎33v] (66/96)

December 1941 to be interned. Sent back for trial
in March 1944 and in August 1944 condemned to
three years’ hard labour and sequestration of all his
property.
103. Rauf-al-Chadirchi
Sunni of Bagdad. He was Mayor of Bagdad at
the time of the cutting of New Street and earned a
great deal of personal unpopularity thereby. Left
for Berlin shortly before the occupation, and
subsequently went to Switzerland, returning to
Bagdad in the summer of 1920, up to which time
permission to return had been refused him. Speaks
French, English and German well. He set up
practice as a barrister and consorted much with
British officials. He took no part in the Nationalist
agitation; nevertheless, when his father was deported
to Constantinople in August, he was asked to return
with him. He came back in 1921 and resumed his
legal work without taking any part in politics. He
has most of the business of foreign firms in his hands
owing to his knowledge of English. He was in
England on a visit during the summer of 1923,
returning home in September. A retiring man of
modernist opinions. Deputy for Hillah in the
Constituent Assembly in March 1924. He was
strongly opposed to the passage of the treaty without
amendments and voted against it. Chosen director
of the Law School August 1924. Minister of Finance,
Second Saduniyah Cabinet, and afterwards became
Minister of Justice in Jafar Pasha’s Cabinet in
November 1926. Iraqi Minister to Angora autumn
1929. Resigned post as Minister at Angora in
December 1930, and returned to Bagdad as legal
adviser to the Iraq Petroleum Company.
Appointed Iraqi Minister in London in December
1936, and proceeded to his post early in 1937.
Resigned March 1940 and remained in England,
where he has a well-paid post with the Iraq
Petroleum Company.
A cultured, likeable and intelligent man.
104. Rauf-al-Kubaisi
Sunni; of Kubaisah origin. Born 1885. He was
commandant of gendarmerie in Aleppo under Jafar
Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. in 1919 and did useful work in keeping order
before the advent of the French in July 1920.
Refused office under the French and returned to
Bagdad in February 1921. He was appointed
Kaimakam of Suq in November 1921, but was
removed in June. He then for a time joined the
extreme Nationalist group in Bagdad. Appointed
Director-General of Prisons in 1924 and subsequently
played no part in politics. Appointed Mutessarif of
Basra January 1930. Dismissed for incompetence,
April 1931. Appointed Director-General of Auqaf in
summer of 1933, and Director-General of Census in
November 1937.
Mutessarif of Bagdad November 1938 and
Director-General of Auqaf April 1939. Resigned
June 1940.
Reappointed Director-General of Auqaf in Novem
ber 1941 by Nuri Said.
105. Razzuq Ghannam
Doyen of Bagdad journalists. Chvner of Al Iraq.
A Christian. Pro-British; backer of Nuri Said. He
is a Deputy for Bagdad. At one time he employed
Rafael Butti, but soon fired him when he realised his
true feelings. Pan-Arabist. According to a speech
he made while a Deputy, he had no time for those
who supported the merchants and landowners at the
expense of the people. “ Parliaments were not
collected for the protection of the profiteers and
opportunists.” Invited to visit Britain as one of the
delegation of Iraq journalists, autumn 1945, but
refused on the grounds of ill-health. He holds rather
w r oolly views on political theory, but is sincere and
means well. Speaks good English. Recently his
newspaper has been losing ground. It comes out
only two or three times a w r eek and circulation is
said to be only about 300. He apparently does not
depend on his journalism for a living as he has a
large house and his daughters, who are progressive
and modern, take a prominent part in the social life
of Bagdad.
106. Sa’ad Salih, C.B.E.
Shia. Born about 1898. Of a poor family from
Najaf. Kurdish grandfather. He was one of the
young Shias chosen by King Faisal I to study at the
Law College (where he graduted in 1927) prior to
receiving an administrative appointment. Served as
Deputy in the early thirties and was posted to
Diwaniya as administrative inspector in 1936.
Appointed Mutasarrif of Kut 1940 and thereafter of
Basra, Hillah, Dulaim and Amara. During the 1941
rebellion kept his Mutasarrifiyah (Kut) free from
trouble. Bitter enemy of Saleh Jabr, who displaced
him from Amara (Sa’ad Salih had annoyed him
whilst at Hillah). Deputy for Diwaniya since 1944.
An efficient administrator, he is less biased than
many Shias, and his name is comparatively free of
any hint of corruption. An able writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. and
impressive speaker. In December 1945 he led the
attack in the Majlis on the Pachachi Cabinet which
finally brought about its fall. Minister of the
Interior in the succeeding (Suweidi) Cabinet.
Created C.B.E., for war services, in 1946. 4k
Now, since the resignation of Tawfiq Suwaidi, ti,i7
leader of the Liberal Party, Sa’ad was very dis
gruntled with the conduct of the elections of 1947
and roundly accuses the Regent of bad faith with
him and his friends.
107. Sabih Najib
Born 1892. Gazetted to the Turkish army in 1912.
Joined Iraqi army 1921, and reached the rank of
lieutenant-colonel 1929. Passed a staff course in
England, and for some time was Commandant of the
Iraqi Staff College in Bagdad. Speaks English and
French and some German. Appointed Director-
General of Police in March 1931. Represented Iraq
on the Syrio-Iraq Frontier Delimitation Commission
in 1933. Appointed counsellor, Berlin, June 1935.
Transferred to Geneva as Iraqi delegate to the
League of Nations in November 1935.
He was appointed Director-General of the Ministry
for Foreign Affairs in December 1937, with the rank
of Minister Plenipotentiary.
Made Minister for Defence in October 1935. ^ j
Resigned with the whole Jamil-al-Madfai Cabinet
the 25th December, 1938.
Tried by court-martial in February 1940 for being
an accessory to the murder of Rustam Haidar,
Minister of Finance. Acquitted on this charge and
sentenced to one year’s imprisonment for having
used insulting language when speaking of the
Government at a semi-public gathering. Was
pardoned by the Regent after serving only a few
weeks of his sentence.
Appointed Iraqi Minister at Angora in December
1941.
Relieved of his appointment in February 1943 and
now seems to be living on his pension in Turkey.
Was retired from the service in August 1944.
108. Sadiq-al-Bassam
Shiah of Bagdad. Born 1895. Graduated at the
Bagdad Law School, and for several years practised
as a lawyer. Deputy for Kut 1930-34. In the
Chamber he gave steady support to Yasin Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , and
was a member of the Ikha-al-Watani party. In
June 1935, as a reward for his political services, he
was appointed Director-General of Government
Lands and Properties in the Ministry of Finance,
and became Minister of Education in Yasin Pasha’s
Cabinet in September 1935. Resigned in October
1936.