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Rustam Haidar (; 1889 – 22 January 1940) was an Iraqi politician of Lebanese descent who served as Minister of Finance of the Kingdom of Iraq from 1930 to 1932 and from 1938 to 1940. Historical Dictionary of Iraq - Beth K. Dougherty He also was an aide to King Faisal I, Defense Minister, and Finance Minister of Iraq. Rustam Haidar is considered an important figure in the history of the modern Iraqi state and worked in many Iraqi ministries despite being of Lebanese origin. Joining the forces of Faisal I, he was a companion of the young emir throughout his life until his death during a trip to Switzerland. Seven years later, Haidar was subjected to a mysterious assassination and was buried next to King Faisal I at the Iraqi Royal Cemetery in Baghdad. Rustam Haidar... The Lebanese who was buried next to King Faisal
During the height of the Arab Revolt which was led against the Ottomans, Haidar decided to join the forces of Faisal I due to being a founding member of al-Fatat Society. He helped head the military campaign heading to the Levant to expel the Ottoman army with direct support from European forces. Because of his background, Haidar was described as "calm in nature and extremely intelligent." After his work in the revolt, Rustam Haidar managed to rise to major positions under the rule of King Faisal I, even after Faisal I was crowned as King of Iraq. By this point, Haidar became the King's private and trusted advisor and secretary and was the writer of the King's speeches and statements and the confidant of his secrets. On November 22, 1918, he left with Faisal I, heading to Paris to attend the Paris Peace Conference. They were accompanied by Nuri al-Said, Dr. Ahmed Qadri, and Fayez al-Fusain, and then they left for London on January 7, 1919. Haidar first set soil in Iraq on June 23, 1921, along with Faisal I after they departed the "Northbrook" ship. After that, Haidar acquired Iraqi citizenship in accordance with the new law, which was written down by the newly crowned King Faisal I, and remained in the service of the Kingdom of Iraq as head of the newly established royal court. Haidar lived in Karkh in a simple house with a rent of only 3 dinars.
As the Minister of Finance, he ordered the seizing of King Faisal I's funds after Haidar had issued a new law to collect overdue debts to the government, and most of those who delayed collecting debts were influential people. These included ministers and tribal sheikhs. The law was first taken into action by Haidar on the private royal treasury. In addition to other positions, in 1929, he was the first diplomatic representative of Iraq in Pahlavi Iran. On 20 April 1929, Haidar was dispatched to Tehran after Reza Shah telegrammed King Faisal I congratulating him on achieving independence. He was sent to convey the Shah the King's appreciation for his telegram. The mission was warmly welcomed by the Iranian government and on the 25th, Haidar was received in audience by the Shah who had informed him of recognition of Iraq. Haidar then headed back to Baghdad on the 30th after the mission was concluded with the first Iranian minister appointed to Baghdad, Ayatollah Khan Sami'i. Rustam Haidar also played a role in issuing the Iraqi currency in 1932 for the first time after the Indian rupee was the currency in circulation in Iraq.
Rustam seemed to be interested in the progress that could occur in nations as a result of the efforts of their leaders. He reportedly wrote about Muhammad Ali Pasha of Egypt in his Sorbonne University thesis and apparently pledged King Faisal I to support him in playing a renaissance role in building the new Iraqi nation. Rustam often called on the state to focus most of its attention on education, the health conditions of the people, and the happiness and well-being of the citizens due to over 400 years of Ottoman rule which led the Iraqi people into backwardness. However, due to his honesty, many of the former students of T. E. Lawrence who later worked in the Iraqi government, became troubled by his Shi'i Muslim sect. As such, they pinned accusations of sectarianism on him.
Rustam Haidar, along with Nuri al-Said and Yasin al-Hashimi, accompanied King Faisal I when he was invited by George V to London, United Kingdom, in the summer of 1933. But the group had to return quickly to Iraq due to the Simele massacre which was carried out by al-Gaylani and Bakr Sidqi. That same year however, King Faisal I and Rustam Haidar had to return to Europe during a treatment trip to Bern, Switzerland. Haidar, along with Ali of Hejaz and Nuri al-Said, were next to Faisal I's deathbed, and listened to his last words before he died suddenly from a heart attack on the morning of September 8, 1933.
Even after the death of King Faisal I, Rustam remained the head of the Royal Court under King Ghazi. During the 1936 Iraqi coup d'état, Haidar helped deliver letters to King Ghazi that were received to him by the coup leaders.
The investigation judge of al-Rusafa area at the time, Jamil al-Orfali, immediately rushed to the Royal Hospital to meet up with Haidar but was unable to interrogate him because he was unable to speak due to his condition, so he went to the building of the General Police Directorate because the perpetrator was detained in it. He was interrogated in the presence of the Public Prosecutor and Tawfiq had confessed that he disgruntled with Haidar due to not giving him a job he promised and acted on it all alone.
The government announced the passing of Rustam Haidar much to the shock of the Iraqis. Despite Tawfiq's confession to the crime, opinions on the motive behind the assassinations differ and the events and motives behind the assassination remained a mystery. Some consider it personal, political, or sectarianist in nature. Nevertheless, the killer was executed at dawn on Wednesday, March 27, 1940, by hanging in Bab Al-Moatham. After the execution, it was reported that Nuri al-Said rushed to cover what Hussein said before his execution January 18, 1940 The killing of Rustam Haidar... Between personal motive and political incitement.
Iraqi historian Abd al-Razzaq al-Hasani mentioned in his book “ The History of the Iraqi Ministries, Part 5” that he “understood from Salih Jabr that Rustam Haider had fallen victim to a conspiracy hatched by Nuri al-Said’s opponents to weaken his ministry, or that the Germans were the ones who planned the crime." But some believe that Nuri al-Said had no interest in the assassination, as he was not in enmity with Rustam Haider, but rather hired Haidar in every ministry he had until his assassination.
At the time, Minister of Defense, Taha al-Hashimi, wrote in his memoirs about the day of the execution of Hussein Fawzi Tawfik the following:
Salih Jabr wasn't the only person to believe that the Nazis had a hand in the assassination, diplomat Gerald de Gaury frankly attributes the assassination to Nazi Germany which started to intrigue in Iraq in the beginning of World War II. However, de Gaury did not indicate the source on which he based what he said, nor did he support his statement with evidence that could be believed or disproved. Nevertheless, Nuri al-Said took advantage of the incident to attack a number of his political opponents.
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