Mustafa Ben Halim

Who is Mustafa Ben Halim?

Mustafa Ahmed Ben Halim was the Prime minister of Libya from 12 April 1954 to 25 May 1957.

Ben Halim was born in exile on 29 January 1921 in Alexandria, Egypt. He graduated with a BS in Civil Engineering from the Egyptian University in Alexandria in 1943. He returned to Libya in 1950 to help with the reconstruction of the country after the war. He was appointed Minister of Public Works in Libya's first government in 1953. Appointed Prime Minister in 1954 until 1957. Ben Halim was the Private Councilor to the King of Libya from 1957 to 1958. He was the Libyan Ambassador to France from 1958 to 1960. He left Public service in 1960 to start his own construction business. He was away during the 1969 coup, and was unable to return to Libya. He briefly settled in Beirut, Lebanon in 1970 to pursue new business ventures. He was a victim of a failed kidnapping attempt by mercenaries hired by Gaddhafi. He then moved to London in 1973. In 1980, and was appointed Personal Councilor to then Crown Prince Fahd bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia.

Ben Halim is the last surviving of the Kingdom of Libya's premiers, and the only one of them who survived the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.