Talib El-Shibib

Who was Talib El-Shibib?

Talib Hussein ash-Shabibi was an Iraqi politician. Born in Babylon Province, he studied engineering at Imperial College in London.

El-Shibib was elected to the leadership of Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, and was one of a triumvirate who planned the later coup against President Abdul Karim Qassim. He became foreign minister under the new regime.

Internal disagreements led him to go in exile. After the second coup in 1968, El-Shibib was given several ambassadorial posts. In 1976 he resigned from the post as Iraqi ambassador to Germany and went into exile again when disagreements arose between him and Saddam Hussein’s policies. He devoted rest of his life in exile and campaigning against Saddam and for a democratic Iraq.