Mahmud al-Muntasir

Mahmud al-Muntasir محمود المنتصر
Prime Minister of Libya
In office 29 March 1951 – 19 February 1954 20 January 1964 – 20 March 1965
Preceded by	Independence Mohieddin Fikini
Succeeded by	Muhammad Sakizli Hussein Maziq
Foreign Minister of Libya
In office 29 March 1951 – 19 February 1954
Preceded by	Independence
Succeeded by	Muhammad Sakizli
Personal details
Born	1903 Libya
Died	1970 (aged 66–67)

Mahmud al-Muntasir (Arabic: محمود المنتصر ‎) was the first Prime minister of Libya from 29 March 1951 to 19 February 1954, and his second term was from 20 January 1964 to 20 March 1965. He was also the Minister of foreign affairs from 29 March 1951 to 19 February 1954.

Family background

Mahmud al-Muntasir was a descendant of the al-Muntasir family, an old family from Tripoli, whom its ancestor the Kuwafi tribe from Misrata.

Before Independence

• During the Italian occupation of Libya, al-Muntasir had presumably won the trust of Italians. After the political change in 1969, many Libyans regarded al-Muntasir as a puppet. This is far from being fair since al-Muntasir, in 1930s, had no foresight about the future telling him that the Italians would be expelled.
• On 25 November 1950, members of the "National Association" has met for the first time with the goal of writing the Libyan Constitution. Al-Muntasir, then, was one of the delegates from Tripolitania. On March 1951, he was assigned to form this province’s government, and by the end of month, he was assigned to form the provisional federal government of Libya.

Early Years of Independence

• On 24 December 1951, King Idris I of Libya declared its independence, and al-Muntasir became the prime minister of independent Libya.
• One the first major challenges al-Muntasir has met was the situation of foreign military bases in Libya. To strengthen his position at negotiations with Great Britain and United States, he first asked help from Egypt, then under King Farouk. The terms of the Egyptian government were hardly to be accepted, they offered only one million pounds, and demanded that this aid must be supervised by Egyptians, and demanded also the ceding Jaghbub oasis to them. Meanwhile, the British offered 2.75 sterling pounds as a price for the bases at Libya to be remained, so al-Muntasir, of course, accepted the British offer.
• One of most controversial decisions of al-Muntasir was dissolving the political parties in Libya, and expatriating the famous political leader Bashir es Sadawi.
• Al-Muntasir resigned from office in 15 February 1954, then, he was appointed as the Libyan ambassador in London.

The Second Cabinet

• On January 1964, King Idris recalled al-Muntasir to form a new cabinet. At that time, troubles were not very far. In 22 February 1964, President Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt made a speech in his country saying that:" … [the foreign military] bases existing in Libya …are a danger to the whole Arab nation..". This speech, accompanied with anti-Libyan propaganda in the Egyptian media, agitated the Libyan people, so al-Muntasir decided to commence the negotiations of evacuation with Great Britain and United States, and Hussein Maziq, his foreign minister, was assigned to run the negotiations. Unexpectedly, when Maziq was attending an Arab summit in Cairo the same year, President Nasser told him, after an American pressure on Nasser, not to be in a rush to eject the American forces from Libya. This meant actually suspension of the evacuation's negotiations. Maziq told the story of this meeting while defending himself at the Libyan People's Court in 1970.
• Al-Muntasir resigned in March 1965 for health reasons, then, he was appointed as the chief of royal bureau.

Death

After the coup d'état of 1 September 1969, al-Mutasir was arrested, then died in prison in September 1970. There were rumors saying that he committed suicide because of bad treatment, but these rumors were never confirmed.

References

• Enrico De Agostini, “La Popolazione della Tripolitania”, translated to Arabic by Kalifa Tillisi, Ad Dar al Arabiya lil Kitab, 1978.
• Al-Ahram Newspaper, 12 November 1969, No.30287
• Mohamed Yousef el-Magariaf, "Libia bain al Madi wal Hadir: Safahat men at Tarikh as Siyasi", 4 vols., Markaz ad Dirasat al Libiya, Oxford, & Maktabat Wahba 14 al-Gomhuriya street Cairo, 2004-2006.
• Mustafa Ben Halim, "Safahat Matwiya men Tarikh Libia as Siyasi", Matabe' al-Ahram at Tejariya, Qalyub, Misr, 1992.
• Mustafa Ben Halim, "Libia : Inbe'ath Omma.. wa Soqout Dawla", Manshurat al Jamal, Köln, Germany, 2003.

Persondata
Name	Muntasir, Mahmud Al
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1903
Place of birth	Libya
Date of death	1970
Place of death