Editing Ba'ath Party (section)

===Iraq===
{{main|Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region}}
[[Fuad al-Rikabi]] founded the Iraqi Regional Branch in 1951{{sfn|Polk|2006|p=109}} or 1952.{{sfn|Ghareeb|Dougherty|2004|p=194}} There are those who trace the branch's founding to Abd ar Rahman ad Damin and Abd al Khaliq al Khudayri in 1947, after their return from the 1st National Congress, which was held in Syria.<ref>{{cite web|author=Metz, Helen Chapin|author-link=Helen Chapin Metz|url=http://countrystudies.us/iraq/77.htm|title=Iraq — Politics: The Baath Party|publisher=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]]|access-date=23 October 2011|archive-date=12 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012073305/http://countrystudies.us/iraq/77.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Another version is that the branch was established in 1948 by Rikabi and Sa'dun Hamadi, a [[Shia Islam|Shia]] [[Muslim]].{{sfn|Sheffer|Ma'oz|2002|p=174}} However, Efraim Karsh and Inari Rautsi contend that the Regional Branch was established in the 1940s, but that it received official recognition as a Regional Branch of the Ba'ath Party in 1952 by the National Command.{{sfn|Karsh|Rautsi|1991|p=13}} What is certain is that Rikabi was elected the Regional Branch's first Regional Secretary in 1952.{{sfn|Sheffer|Ma'oz|2002|p=174}}

The party initially consisted of a majority of Shia Muslims, as Rikabi recruited supporters mainly from his friends and family, but slowly became [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] dominated.{{sfn|Nakash|2003|p=136}} The Regional Branch, and other parties of pan-Arab inclination, had difficulties in recruiting Shia members.{{sfn|Dawisha|2005|p=174}} Most Shi'ites considered pan-Arab ideology as a Sunni project, since the majority of Arabs are Sunnis.{{sfn|Dawisha|2005|p=174}}

At the time of [[14 July Revolution]] in 1958, which overthrew the [[Kingdom of Iraq|Hashemite monarchy]], the Regional Branch had 300 members.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|p=22}} The Iraqi Regional Branch supported [[Abdul-Karim Qasim]]'s rule on the grounds that he would seek Iraq's entry into the [[United Arab Republic]].{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|pp=24–25}} Of the 16-members of Qasim's cabinet, 12 of them were Regional Branch members.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|pp=24–25}} After taking power, Qasim changed his position on the UAR, reverting to the old "Iraq first policy".{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|pp=24–25}} This turn displeased the Regional Branch and other Arab nationalists groups.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|pp=25–26}} Due to his policy reversal, the Regional Branch gathered a group, led by [[Saddam Hussein]], which tried but failed to assassinate Qasim.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|p=26}}

The Regional Branch seized power in the [[Ramadan Revolution]].{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|p=39}} The coup was led by leading Regional Branch member [[Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr]].{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|p=39}} The plotters appointed [[Abdul Salam Arif]], a Nasserite, to the [[President of Iraq|Presidency]] while al-Bakr was appointed the [[Prime Minister of Iraq|country's Prime Minister]].{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|p=41}} However, real power was in the hands of Ali Salih al-Sadi, the branch's Regional Secretary.{{sfn|Mufti|1996|p=161}} After taking power, the Regional Branch through its militia, the National Guard, initiated what Iraqi expert Con Coughlin referred to as an "orgy of violence" against [[Communism|communist]] and [[Left-wing politics|left-wing]] elements.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|p=41}} These repressive measures coupled with factionalism within the Regional Branch led to the [[November 1963 Iraqi coup d'état]] by President Arif and his Nasserite supporters.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|p=44}} Iraq expert Malik Mufti believes Aflaq may have supported Arif's coup because it weakened al-Sadi's position within the party and strengthened his own.{{sfn|Mufti|1996|p=165}} The coup forced the branch to go underground.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|pp=46–48}} Due to the coup, several leading Ba'athist were jailed, such as al-Bakr and Saddam.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|pp=46–48}} Despite this, the Regional Branch elected al-Bakr as Regional Secretary in 1964.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|pp=46–48}}