Rashid Ali al-Gaylani | |
---|---|
رشيد عالي الكيلاني | |
9th Prime Minister of Iraq | |
In office 20 March 1933 – 9 November 1933 |
|
Monarch |
Faisal I Ghazi I |
Preceded by | Naji Shawkat |
Succeeded by | Jamil al-Midfai |
In office 31 March 1940 – 3 February 1941 |
|
Monarch |
Faisal II Prince Abdullah (Regent) |
Preceded by | Nuri al-Said |
Succeeded by | Taha al-Hashimi |
In office 13 April 1941 – 30 May 1941 |
|
Monarch |
Faisal II Prince Abdullah (Regent) |
Preceded by | Taha al-Hashimi |
Succeeded by | Jamil al-Midfai |
Personal details | |
Born | 1892 Baghdad, Ottoman Iraq |
Died | August 28, 1965 Beirut, Lebanon |
Political party | Party of National Brotherhood |
Rashid Ali al-Gaylani (Arabic: رشيد عالي الكيلاني, Arabic pronunciation: [raʃiːd ʕaːliː al.keːlaːniː]) (1892 – August 28, 1965) was an Iraqi politician who served as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Iraq on three occasions: from March to November 1933, from March 1940 to February 1941 and from April to May 1941. He is chiefly remembered as an Arab nationalist who attempted to remove the British influence from Iraq. During his brief tenures as Prime Minister in 1940 and 1941, he attempted to negotiate settlements with the Axis powers during World War II in order to counter British influence in Iraq.
He was the son of Sayyad Abdul Wahhab al-Gaylani and born into the prominent Baghdad-based Gaylani family. The Gaylani were known as sadeh, as they were from a family that traced its ancestry back to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Rashid Ali enrolled in law school in Baghdad and was a lawyer until his political career.
In 1924, Rashid Ali al-Gaylani began his career in politics in the first government led by Prime Minister Yasin al-Hashimi. Yasin al-Hashimi appointed Gaylani as the Minister of Justice. The two men were ardent nationalists and were opposed to any British involvement in the internal politics of Iraq. They rejected the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty signed by the government of Prime Minister Nuri as-Said in 1930. They formed the Party of National Brotherhood to promote nationalist aims. Gaylani served as Prime Minister for the first time in 1933 but held office for less than eight months. In 1938 the subject was seized and exiled to 'Ana for his suspected role in the Baghdad bomb-throwing of November and the general political upheaval.