Former President of Iraq. He gained a position power in 1963, five years after the Iraqi monarchy was overthrown. His older brother, Abdel-Salam Aref, who was the president, appointed him army chief of staff. When the president died three years later in a suspicious plane crash, Iraqi Army officers placed the younger Aref in the presidency. Due to his weak rule, Aref was overthrown in 1968 in a bloodless coup that resulted in Saddam Hussein's Baath Party coming to power. Aref was hustled onto a plane that took him to London. From London he made his way to Istanbul, where he lived 11 years in exile before Saddam Hussein allowed him to return to Iraq. He fled Iraq and settled in Jordan after the American-led invasion that toppled Hussein in 2003. He died of natural causes.
Former President of Iraq. He gained a position power in 1963, five years after the Iraqi monarchy was overthrown. His older brother, Abdel-Salam Aref, who was the president, appointed him army chief of staff. When the president died three years later in a suspicious plane crash, Iraqi Army officers placed the younger Aref in the presidency. Due to his weak rule, Aref was overthrown in 1968 in a bloodless coup that resulted in Saddam Hussein's Baath Party coming to power. Aref was hustled onto a plane that took him to London. From London he made his way to Istanbul, where he lived 11 years in exile before Saddam Hussein allowed him to return to Iraq. He fled Iraq and settled in Jordan after the American-led invasion that toppled Hussein in 2003. He died of natural causes.
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