Coup Atlas Research Database
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64511131963AttemptedMilitary coup

Iraq, 1963 — military coup attempt

Iraq (IRQ)Western Asia, AsiaNovember 13, 1963

Event Summary

Between 13 and 18 November 1963 pro-Nasserist officers of the Iraqi army led by President Abd al-Salam Arif ousted the Baath Party from the government it had seized in the February 1963 coup, ending nine months of Baathist rule marked by the ill disciplined violence of its National Guard militia. The first Baath government had been riven by factionalism between pro-and anti-Nasser wings and between its civilian leadership and the hardline secretary general Ali Salih al-Sadi, who controlled the National Guard. When al-Sadi was forced into exile and a party meeting failed to resolve the crisis, President Arif, who held a largely ceremonial post, lost patience, and with army support he suppressed the National Guard militia, bombing its headquarters, and forced the twelve Baath members of government to resign.

Although the coup itself was largely bloodless, some 250 people were killed in related actions. Arif emerged as the effective ruler of a new pro-Nasserist government.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: The Baath Party was ousted from government; President Abd al-Salam Arif consolidated power over a new pro-Nasserist government
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Abd al-Salam Arif (president of Iraq, coup leader)
Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr (ousted Baathist prime minister)
Ali Salih al-Sadi (Baath secretary general, exiled)

Sources

The November 1963 Iraqi coup took place between November 13 and 18, 1963, when pro-Nasserist Iraqi officers led a military coup within the Baath Party, and although the coup itself was bloodless, 250 people were killed in related actions.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, November 1963 Iraqi coup d'etat open source ↗
Factionalism coupled with the ill disciplined behaviour of the National Guard led the military wing to initiate a coup against the party's leadership, and al-Sadi was forced into exile in Spain.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, November 1963 Iraqi coup d'etat open source ↗
President Arif lost patience with the Baath, and the Party was ousted from government on 18 November 1963, with the 12 Baath members of government forced to resign and the National Guard replaced by the Republican Guard.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, November 1963 Iraqi coup d'etat open source ↗
By November 18 Iraqi president Abdul Salam Arif and his supporters suppressed the Baath National Guard militia and bombed its headquarters, and Arif then removed al-Bakr as premier, establishing a new pro-Nasserist government.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, November 1963 Iraqi coup d'etat open source ↗

Editorial Note

Date match, well documented. Dataset codes it a military coup and leader remained in office, reflecting Arif's continuity as head of state while the Baath ministers were purged. Follows the Iraq 1963-07-03 communist rising in batch 64 and the February 1963 Baath coup in the Iraq arc.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
64511131963

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: The Baath Party was ousted from government; President Abd al-Salam Arif consolidated power over a new pro-Nasserist government.

Baseline coding: Coup attempt failed to remove the incumbent. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation

Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

New York Times

“NEW IRAQI CHIEF VOWS NEUTRALITY Arif Stresses Non Alignment –Offers Peace to Kurds,” by Dana Adams Schmidt, November 23, 1963

Christian Science Monitor

“Iraq Coup Bid Fails,” November 14, 1963

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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