July 31, 1958
IRAQ: Amsterdam, 26 – The first Western journalist allowed to leave Baghdad said here this morning that the people of Iraq and the rebel officers somewhat regretted the death of King Faisal, which was probably from natural causes. Photoreporter Karl Brayer of the German news agency who arrived in Baghdad the day after the coup, returned to Amsterdam this morning and said that according to military officers under General Major General Abdul Karim el Qasim, the revolution had been planned for some months but the idea of staging the coup arose on July 14 when Crown Prince Abdul Illah ordered that ammunition be made available to the 20th Brigade led by the general, which was to invade Jordan and quash a military plot against King Hussein, Faisal’s cousin. Qasim acted swiftly. His brigade surrounded the palace and a group of selected officers burst in and asked the crown prince to surrender. When the latter tried to mobilize the palace guard, the officers began shooting anyone who got in their way, including the crown prince along with a number of other members of the royal household.
