Tawfiq al-Suwaidi

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Tawfiq al-Suwaidi (1891-1968) (Arabic: توفيق السويدي) was an Iraqi politician who served as Prime Minister of Iraq on four occasions:

• April 28, 1929 - August 25, 1929
• November 18, 1929 - March 9, 1930
• February 23, 1946 - May 31, 1946
• February 5, 1950 - September 4, 1950.

Suwaidi also served in various other prominent cabinet positions, including minister of education and minister of foreign affairs, during most of the Iraqi monarchy. He also served as foreign minister of the short-lived Iraqi-Jordan federation in 1958.

Born in Baghdad, Suwaidi trained as a lawyer and began his political career as legal counsel to the government. Because of his close ties to the crown, Suwaidi was arrested in 1958 during the revolution that overthrew the monarchy. Sentenced to life in prison, he was pardoned in 1961 and went into exile in Lebanon, where he died.

[edit] References

• Harris M. Lentz III, Heads of States and Governments: A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Over 2,300 Leaders, 1945 through 1992. McFarland & Company, Inc., 1994, p.411. ISBN 0-89950-926-6.