Salah al Din al Sabbagh

Salah al-Din al-Sabbagh was an Iraqi Army officer and Arab nationalist who led the Golden Square group, which opposed the government at the time and had a high influence on politics between 1939 and 1941. He was born in Mosul in 1889 to a Baghdadi Jewish family. He graduated from the Ottoman Military College in Istanbul and served in Palestine and Macedonia during World War I. He joined the Iraqi army in 1921 and became a high-ranking officer. He disliked the pro-Western and conservative policies of the monarchy and joined several opposition groups in the army. He led the military coup that abolished the monarchy and established the Republic of Iraq in 1958. He became the prime minister and assumed the title of The Leader. He faced many challenges during his rule, such as the issue of Arab unity, the Kurdish rebellion, the communist influence, and the coup attempts. He tried to balance the various political forces and maintain his independence. He introduced some social and economic reforms, such as land redistribution, women's suffrage, and nationalization of some industries. He also adopted a neutral stance in the Cold War and established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and China. He was assassinated on 16 October 1945 by a group of Ba'athist officers who staged a coup d'état and killed him by hanging. He is considered one of the most influential figures in modern Iraqi history and a symbol of Iraqi nationalism.