Muzahim al-Pachachi

Muzahim al-Pachachi
32nd Prime Minister of Iraq
In office June 26, 1948 – January 6, 1949
Monarch	Faisal II
Preceded by	Sayyid Muhammad as-Sadr
Succeeded by	Nuri as-Said
Personal details
Born	1890
Died	1982

Muzahim al-Pachachi (1890 – 1982), Iraqi politician and diplomat, was born to a prominent family and graduated from the Baghdad School of Law. He organized the Arab nationalist Cultural Club in Baghdad in 1912; its members included Hamdi al-Pachachi, Talib al-Naqib and Muhammad Ridha. In 1924, al-Pachachi was elected a member of the Constituent Assembly, charged with drafting the Constitution of Iraq. He held a number of cabinet and diplomatic positions. He served as Minister of Works (1924-25) before becoming a member of parliament (1925-27). He was appointed ambassador to Britain (1927-28) and was briefly Minister of the Interior (1930). Al-Pachachi opposed the 1930 Anglo-Iraqi Treaty because it failed to meet nationalist demands. He held a succession of ambassadorial posts: ambassador to the League of Nations (1933-35), to Italy (1935-39), and to France (1939-42). During the occupation of France in World War II, al-Pachachi stayed in Switzerland. He became active in the 1930s and 1940s in pro-Palestinian activities and opposed the 1948 United Nations truce in Palestine. In June 1948, he became Prime Minister and it was under his leadership that Iraq sent 15,000 to 18,000 men to take part in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, it was also during this time that Iraq led the Arab Liberation Army. However after the Arabs were defeated and Palestine was partitioned, his cabinet fell in January 1949. He was later appointed deputy Prime Minister (1949-50) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (1949-50). Al-Pachachi opposed the 1951 law that allowed Iraqi Jews to leave the country, although he himself left Iraq that year, returning after the 14 July Revolution in 1958. His son Adnan later served as a cabinet minister and diplomat.

References

• Ghareeb, Edmund A. Historical Dictionary of Iraq, pp. 179–80. Scarecrow Press, 2004, ISBN 0810843307.

Persondata
Name	Pachachi, Muzahim al-
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1890
Place of birth
Date of death	1982
Place of death