Brigadier General Mohammad Daoud Al-Abbasi (; 11 July 1914 – 19 January 1972) was a Jordanian politician and the

Prime Minister of Jordan The prime minister of Jordan is the head of government of the Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The prime minister is appointed by the List of kings of Jordan, king of Jordan, who is then free to form his own Cabinet of Jordan, Cabinet. Th ...

and

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

of the military government in Jordan during the Jordanian Civil War.

Early life

Mohammad Daoud Al-Abbasi was born in Silwan,

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. He worked as a police officer in the city of Tulkarm in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, which was then a part of

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

until the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

. In 1952, he became a member of the Jordanian delegation of the Jordanian/Israeli Mixed Armistice Commission. He held the position of Presidency of the joint Jordanian delegation in 1958 until the

in 1967. In 1956, he was wounded by a mine and was rescued by an Israeli officer, Aharon Camara, because the Jordanians officers were scared to enter the mine field. During the

, he was taken prisoner by the Israeli army for 17 days and then was released. He continued working as a head of the Jordanian/Israeli Mixed Armistice Commission until 1970. In 1969, he got permission to enter the

for the funeral of his wife.

Black September

On September 16, 1970, King Hussein of Jordan declared martial law and appointed Brigadier Mohammad Daoud as Prime Minister to lead the first military government in

. Despite efforts to defuse the tension between the Jordanian army and the Palestinian movements, between 16 and 25 September 1970, the escalating conflict resulted in the death of thousands and this conflict became known as Black September (also known as the Jordanian Civil War). An

Arab League The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...

Summit Committee assigned Kuwaiti Minister of Defense Saad Al-Sabah, Sudanese head of state Gaafar Nimeiry, and the Deputy Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, Omar Al Saqqaf to investigate and report back the cause of the clash to the Arab summit. Meanwhile, the

held a meeting for all the head of Arab states in Cairo. King Hussein assigned Al-Abbasi to join the summit. After 10 days only as a prime minister, on 24 September, out of frustration and pressure after being unable to avoid this developing conflict and the devastating results, Al-Abbasi submitted his resignation from his position to the Jordanian Ambassador in Cairo, Hazem Nuseibeh. Al-Abbasi requested political asylum in Cairo, following his resignation. Egyptian president,

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...

, asked Al-Abbasi to stay in Cairo for consultation of Jordanian affairs. The timing of this resignation amidst all the turbulent and rapidly developing events at that time came as a surprise to many, and it had a dramatic impact in ending the military conflict in Jordan at a faster pace.Mohammad Hassanain Haikal. 26/08/2010. Available at: http://www.aljazeera.net/programs/pages/4d78527f-5a0f-4b44-b11c-52ca6c162455#L3

Illness and death

Al-Abbasi was hospitalized in Cairo towards the end of 1971 being diagnosed with a brain tumor, and was sent later to Paris to undergo brain surgery. Then he asked to be treated in Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem, and he was granted permission, but he could not make it. On 10 January 1972, he returned to the Military Hospital in Amman, Jordan and died 9 days later, on Wednesday 19 January. His body was transferred from Amman to Jerusalem through Allenby Bridge after a formal funeral ceremony. A prayer was conducted at al-Aqsa mosque on Friday, 21 January 1972. He was buried at his home town Silwan as he had wished, the town where he was born and originally grew up.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbasi, Mohammad Prime ministers of Jordan Ministers of foreign affairs of Jordan Justice ministers of Jordan Jordanian people of Palestinian descent Politicians from Jerusalem 1914 births 1972 deaths