Abdul Salam Arif

Abdul Salam Arif (1921 - April 13, 1966) was an Iraqi military ruler during the 1960s. He was born in Baghdad. On February 8, 1963, he played a leading role in the coup in which the government of Muhammad Najib al-Rubai and Abdul Karim Qassim was overthrown. He at first supported the Ba'ath Party, but withdrew from it following an anti-Ba'ath coup later in 1963. He was killed in a helicopter crash in the Shatt Al-Arab Desert of Southern Iraq. He was succeeded by his brother Abdul Rahman Arif.