Ahali group

The al-Ahali Group (Arabic: مجموعة الاهالي) was a political association formed in 1930 by a collection of non-sectarian, middle class Iraqi youth frustrated with the Iraqi monarchy. Although it was not an official party, it was a successor to the Watani (National) party and home to several important Iraqi Cabinet and Parliament members, including Ja'far Abu al-Timman, Hikmat Sulayman, Kamil Chadirji, and Mohammed Hadid. Perhaps more importantly, its history illustrated the often complex task of navigating reform in the ideological and socio-political climate that predominated under the monarchy. It transformed from a radical left youth organization, to a more moderate reformist group under the aforementioned senior politicians, to an unfortunate accomplice in the Bakr Sidqi coup, and finally dissolved in protest over said coup's brutality and disregard for reform.