He lifted a ban on the , and demanded the annexation of Kuwait | He was promptly arrested, and charged on 5 November with the attempted assassination of Qasim and attempts to overthrow the regime |
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Kurdish separatists under the leadership of Mustafa Barzani chose to wage war against the Iraqi establishment | became chairman of the Sovereignty Council head of state , but his power was very limited |
[ ] Attempts were also made in 1959 and 1961 to introduce economic planning to benefit social welfare; investing in housing, healthcare and education, whilst reforming the agrarian Iraqi economy along an industrial model.
Barzani had delivered an ultimatum to Qasim in August 1961 demanding an end to authoritarian rule, recognition of Kurdish autonomy, and restoration of democratic liberties | US Foreign Policy, Iraq, the Kurds, and the Cold War |
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In December 1959 he promulgated a significant revision of the personal status code, particularly that regulating family relations | For example, Qasim released from custody and reinstated him in the Iraqi army, allowing Ammash to act as the military liaison to the Ba'athist coup plotters |
Arif's criticism of Qasim became gradually more pronounced.
Qasim is said by his admirers to have worked to improve the position of ordinary people in Iraq, after the long period of self-interested rule by a small elite under the monarchy which had resulted in widespread social unrest | On 19 June, he announced in a press conference that Kuwait was a part of Iraq, and claimed its territory |
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Instead he found himself echoing the views of his predecessor, Said, by adopting a wataniyah policy of "Iraq First" | Iraq was isolated from the Arab world for its part in the Kuwait incident, whilst Iraq had antagonised its powerful neighbour, Iran |
Then, in response to the IPC's rejection of this proposal, Qasim issued Public Law 80, which would have taken away 99.
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