Mahmud al-Muntasir (; 8 August 1903 – 28 September 1970) was a Libyan politician and statesman who served as the first

Prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

from March 29, 1951 to February 19, 1954, and again from January 20, 1964 to March 20, 1965. He was also the Minister of Foreign Affairs during his first term.

Family background

*Mahmud al-Muntasir was a descendant of the al-Muntasir family, an old prominent family from

Misrata Misrata ( ; , Libyan Arabic: ; also spelled Misratah and known by the Italian spelling Misurata) is a city in northwestern Libya located in the Misrata District, situated to the east of Tripoli on the Mediterranean coast near Cape Misrata. ...

; his ancestors were from the Kuwafi tribe from

. *He was the father of Libyan foreign minister Omar Mahmud al-Muntasir, and grandfather of Libyan footballer, Jehad al-MuntasirBashir as-Sunni al-Muntasir, "Muzakkirat shadid ala al ahd al malaki", 1st ed., 2008. pp.153-154.

Before independence

*During the Italian occupation of

, al-Muntasir had presumably won the trust of Italians. After the political change in 1969, many Libyans regarded al-Muntasir as a puppet. *On 25 November 1950, members of the "National Association" met for the first time with the goal of writing the Libyan Constitution. Al-Muntasir was one of the delegates from

Tripolitania Tripolitania (), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province of Libya. The region had been settled since antiquity, first coming to prominence as part of the Carthaginian empire. Following the defeat ...

. In March 1951, he was assigned to form that province’s government and, by the end of the month, was assigned to form the provisional federal government of

Early years of independence

*On 24 December 1951, King Idris I of Libya declared its independence, and al-Muntasir became the prime minister of independent Libya. *One of the first major challenges al-Muntasir met was the situation of foreign military bases in Libya. To strengthen his position at negotiations with

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, he first asked help from

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, then under King Farouk. The terms of the Egyptian government were hardly to be accepted: they offered only one million pounds, and demanded that this aid must be supervised by Egyptians, and demanded also the ceding of the Jaghbub oasis to them. The British, meanwhile, offered 2.75 million sterling pounds in order to retain their bases in Libya and al-Muntasir accepted the British offer. *One of the most controversial decisions of al-Muntasir was dissolving the political parties in Libya, and expatriating the famous political leader Bashir es Sadawi. *Al-Muntasir resigned from office on 15 February 1954 and was appointed the Libyan ambassador in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Second Cabinet

*In January 1964, King Idris recalled al-Muntasir to form a new cabinet. At that time, troubles were not very far. On 22 February 1964, President Gamal Abdul Nasser of

made a speech in his country saying that:" … he foreign militarybases existing in

…are a danger to the whole

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

nation..". This speech, accompanied with anti-Libyan propaganda in the Egyptian media, agitated the Libyan people, so al-Muntasir decided to commence the negotiations for foreign evacuation with

and the

and

Hussein Maziq Hussein Yousef Maziq (; 26 June 1918 – 12 May 2006) was a Libyan politician who was Prime Minister of Libya from 20 March 1965 to 2 July 1967. He was one of the most important men in the Kingdom era of Libya. Family background Maziq was a ...

, his foreign minister, was assigned to run the negotiations. Unexpectedly, when Maziq was attending an Arab summit in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

the same year, President Nasser told him, after American pressure on Nasser, not to be in a rush to eject the American forces from

. This meant suspension of the evacuation's negotiations. Maziq told the story of this meeting while defending himself at the Libyan People's Court in 1970. *Al-Muntasir resigned in March 1965 for health reasons, then, he was appointed the chief of the royal bureau.

Death

After the coup d'état of 1 September 1969, al-Mutasir was arrested, then died in prison on 28 September 1970, aged 67. There were rumors saying that he committed suicide because of bad treatment, but these rumors were never confirmed.

Notes

References

*Al-Ahram Newspaper, 12 November 1969, No.30287 * Mohamed Yousef el-Magariaf, "Libia bain al Madi wal Hadir: Safahat men at Tarikh as Siyasi", 4 vols., Markaz ad Dirasat al Libiya,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, & Maktabat Wahba 14 al-Gomhuriya street

, 2004-2006. * Mustafa Ben Halim, "Safahat Matwiya men Tarikh Libia as Siyasi", Matabe' al-Ahram at Tejariya, Qalyub, Misr, 1992. *Mustafa Ben Halim, "Libia : Inbe'ath Omma.. wa Soqout Dawla", Manshurat al Jamal,

Köln Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Muntasir, Mahmud Al 1903 births 1970 deaths Prime ministers of Libya Ministers of foreign affairs of Libya Libyan people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in Libyan detention Interior ministers of Libya Ambassadors of Libya to the United Kingdom Ambassadors of Libya to Italy Libyan politicians convicted of crimes People from Misrata 20th-century diplomats 20th-century Libyan politicians