Page "Abd al-Karim Qasim" Paragraph 6

The coup was discussed and planned by the Free Officers, but was mainly executed by Qasim and Col. Abdul Salam Arif.

It was triggered when King Hussein, fearing that an anti-Western revolt in Lebanon might spread to Jordan, requested Iraqi assistance.

Instead of moving towards Jordan, however, Colonel Arif led a battalion into Baghdad and immediately proclaimed a new republic and the end of the old regime.

Put in its historical context, the 14 July Revolution was the culmination of a series of uprisings and coup attempts that began with the 1936 Bakr Sidqi coup and included the 1941 Rashid Ali military movement, the 1948 Wathbah Uprising, and the 1952 and 1956 protests.

The July 14 Revolution met virtually no opposition.