Naji Talib - Political Career

Political Career

In 1956 Staff Colonel Naji Talib was the commandant of the Senior Officers School in Baghdad. During this year he proposed the immediate union of Iraq with the United Arab Republic upon an antagonistic intervention by any of the parties to the Baghdad Pact, The Supreme committee committed itself unanimously to the proposal. In 1957 Naji Talib became the second deputy chairman of the Free Officers Movement in Iraq. Naji Talib's role in government included taking up the positions of Minister of Social Affairs 14 July 1958 – 7 February 1959, Minister of Industries 1963, Minister of Foreign Affairs 1964–1965, and finally Prime Minister 9 August 1966 – 9 May 1967. Naji Talib later became a middle-of-the-roader after holding ministerial portfolios under Qasim and in the days of the Ba'th. While politically he wavered between an independent nationalist attitude and a mild Nasirism, he had succeeded in remaining in all the good graces of all the contending military factions.