Background
He was born in the city of Samarra into a poor family in 1935 and received a secondary education there.
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Abd al-Khaliq al-Samarra'i
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He was arrested in 1973 for his alleged involvement in a plot to overthrow the government, and executed in 1979 by Hussein. In 1972, he was Chairman of the Cultural Bureau of the RCC. During the 1966 Ba'ath Party split, al-Samarra'i sided with Michel Aflaq. Throughout his tenureship, he was Saddam Hussein's most notable contender for the leadership of the civilian faction, and was considered the third most powerful man in Iraq by observers.
By 1973, al-Samarra'i had become a focal point for those Ba'athists who still believed in the tenants of Ba'athism, and did not wish to follow blindly the rule of Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr. In 1973, he became implicated in Nazim Kazzar's plot to overthrow the government. Following the failed coup attempt al-Samarra'i was found guilty of anti-state activities and arrested.
There are several who doubt al-Samarra'i's involvement in the failed coup. Even so, al-Bakr never ratified his death sentence, and al-Samarra'i lived in house arrest until 1979. Bibliography.
Politics
He became a member of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in Iraq in 1952, the Iraqi Regional Command in 1964, the National Command in 1968 and the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) in 1969.
Membership
He was a member of the Regional Command from 1964 to 1973, and considered a serious rival of Saddam Hussein for leadership of the civilian faction of the Ba'ath Party. Even so, in August 1979, Saddam executed al-Samarra'i along with others who Saddam claimed were members of a conspiracy to overthrow the government.
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Born
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Died
1979 (aged 44) -
Nationality
Iraqi -
Political Party
Iraqi Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party