Abd al-Muhsin as-Sa'dun

Abd al-Muhsin Al-Saadoon
2nd, 5th, 7th and 9th Prime Minister of Iraq
In office November 20, 1922 – November 22, 1923 June 26, 1925–November 21, 1926 January 11, 1928–April 28, 1929 September 19, 1929–November 13, 1929
Monarch	Faisal I
Preceded by	Abd Al-Rahman Al-Gillani Yasin al-Hashimi Jafar al-Askari Tawfiq al-Suwaidi
Succeeded by	Jafar al-Askari (twice) Tawfiq al-Suwaidi Naji al-Suwaidi
Personal details
Born	Abd Al-Muhsin bin Fahad Al-Sa'dun 1879 Nasiriyah, Basra Vilayet
Died	13 November 1929 Baghdad, Iraq
Political party	Progressive Party
Children	Wasif Ali Aida Necla
Alma mater	Ottoman Military Academy
Religion	Sunni Islam
Military service
Allegiance	Ottoman Empire
Service/branch	Ottoman Army
Years of service	Unknown-1909
Rank	Binbashi (1905-1909) Second Lieutenant (1909)
Unit	Infantry

ʻAbd al-Muḥsin Saʻdūn or Abd al-Muhsin Al-Saadoon, Honorary KCMG (Arabic: عبد المحسن السعدون‎) (1879 – November 13, 1929) was an Iraqi politician who served as Prime Minister of Iraq on four separate occasions between 1922 and 1929.

Origins Prior to the Monarchy

Abd al-Muhsin as-Sa'dun hailed from a family descended from the most powerful tribe within the Muntafiq Confederation (the Sa'duns). In the mid-nineteenth century the Ottoman fostered rivalries between the dominant Sa'dun chiefs by offering enticing land deals to the highest bidders among them, pursuant to a policy of tribal weakening and division. In 1871 Midhat Pasha finally rent the family in two between "Ottomanizers" and their opponents by offering some chiefs permanent ownership of once communal tribal lands (previously they could only exact tribute from cultivators therein). The chiefs then grew very wealthy by converting the rest of the tribe into mere tenants for their exploitation.^[1]

Great Britain took Iraq from the Ottomans following World War I, and pursued a policy whereby they lavished political and economic favors on tribal leaders in order to encourage them to exert their influence in ways conducive to British economic designs in the country. as-Sa'dun was one of many to consistently obtain seats in Parliament in exchange for this service. Notably, however, while many tribal leaders at the time were provincial in outlook, as-Sa'dun was distinguished both on account of being a sayyid (one claiming descent from the Prophet Muhammad), and, more importantly, having broadened his horizons at the Military Academy in Istanbul. As-Sa'dun served as a military officer during Ottoman control of the country, as an aide-de-camp to Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid II, and as a ten-year member of the Ottoman Parliament.^[2] Afterward he returned to Iraq and embarked on a career in politics as a formidable politician.

Time in Parliament

as-Sa'dun was a shrewd politician with many tribal and British connections (as evinced by his control of the Parliament alliance the Progressives). This made him one of Faisal I of Iraq's bitterest rivals, as he frequently acted as an instrument of British supremacy over the Iraqi interests Faisal was trying to pursue. As premier in 1923 he cracked down on a movement calling for a boycott of elections for the Constituent Assembly. Then in 1926 he assured the smooth passage of the Second Ango-Iraqi Treaty despite its inclusion of an unequal twenty-five year Financial and Military Agreement between Iraq and Britain.^[3]

During this, his third term in office, As-Sa'dun also negotiated the Turkey-Iraqi Treaty in which Iraq promised to pay Turkey 10 percent of its revenues from the Mosul oil fields in return for Turkish recognition of Iraqi control of the area. In this way he contributed immensely to Iraq's diplomatic efforts. Nonetheless, by December 1928 popular protest over British domination of Iraq had become so fervid (or, perhaps, as-Sa'dun himself had taken such issue with Britain's refusal to grant Iraq control of its armed forces) that he began to support Faisal I in demanding more autonomy. He resigned in protest on January 1929.^[4]

Death

During his fourth term in office, Al-Sa'dun died. He died of a self-inflicted wound from a gunshot on November 13, 1929—a consequence of the opprobrium he had elicited from both the Iraqi population and, subsequently, the British and international community for his "disloyalty." He left behind a suicide note to his son stating "I have suffered with forbearance all possible insults and contempt."^[5]

References

1. Hanna Batatu. The Old Social Classes and the Old Revolutionary Movements of Iraq. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978: pp. 74-75.
2. Tawfiq as-Suwaidi, "Wujuh 'Abra-t-Tarikh," p. 34
3. Hanna Batatu. The Old Social Classes and the Old Revolutionary Movements of Iraq. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978: pp. 190-191
4. Hanna Batatu. The Old Social Classes and the Old Revolutionary Movements of Iraq. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978: pp. 192
5. Dr. Sinderson Pasha, Harry. Ten Thousand and One Nights. London: Hodder and Stoughton Press, 1973, P. 102-103.