Ali Abu Nuwar | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Abu Nuwar, 1956 | |
| Born | 1925 Al-Salt, Emirate of Transjordan |
| Died | August 15, 1991 (aged 65–66) London, United Kingdom |
| Allegiance |  Jordan |
| Years of service | 1946–1957 |
| Rank | Major Colonel (March 1956 – April 1957) Lieutenant Colonel (November 1955 – March 1956) Lieutenant (1948 – November 1955) |
| Commands | Artillery officer in Arab Legion (1946–1948) Military attaché to Paris (September 1952 – November 1955) Senior Aide-de-camp of King Hussein (November 1955 – May 1956) Chief of staff of Jordanian Armed Forces (May 1956 – April 1957) |
| Battles / wars | First Arab–Israeli War |
| Other work | Senator in Parliament of Jordan (1989–1991) Jordanian Ambassador to France (February 1971–N/A) |
Ali Abu Nuwar (Arabic: علي أبو نوار; surname also spelled Abu Nuwwar, Abu Nawar or Abu Nowar; 1925 – 15 August 1991) was a Jordanian military officer who served as chief of staff of the Jordanian Armed Forces from May 1956 to April 1957. He participated in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War as an artillery officer in the Jordanian army's predecessor, the Arab Legion, but his vocal opposition to British influence in Jordan led to his virtual exile to Paris as military attaché in 1952. There, he forged close ties with Jordanian crown prince Hussein, who promoted Abu Nuwar after his accession to the throne.
Abu Nuwar's enmity with Glubb Pasha, the Arab Legion's powerful British chief of staff, his insistence on establishing Arab command over the army and his influence with Hussein led the latter to dismiss Glubb Pasha and appoint Abu Nuwar in his place. However, Abu Nuwar's ardent support for the pan-Arabist policies of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser contributed to Jordan's increasing isolation from the UK and the US, which were major sources of foreign aid to Jordan. At the same time, existing dissatisfaction with Abu Nuwar's leadership by palace officials and veteran Bedouin army units culminated into violent confrontations at the large army barracks in Zarqa between royalist and Arab nationalist units. Two principal accounts emerged regarding the events at Zarqa, with the royalist version holding that the incident was an abortive coup by Abu Nuwar against Hussein, and the dissident version asserting that it was a staged, American-backed counter-coup by Hussein against the pan-Arabist movement in Jordan. In any case, Abu Nuwar resigned and was allowed to leave Jordan for Syria. He was subsequently sentenced to 15 years in absentia.
Abu Nuwar spent much of his time in exile between Syria and Egypt organizing opposition to Hussein and the monarchy, all the while maintaining his innocence in the Zarqa incident. He returned to Jordan in 1964 after being pardoned by Hussein as part of the latter's broader reconciliation efforts with his exiled opposition. In 1971, Abu Nuwar was made ambassador to France and he was later appointed to the Senate of Jordan's parliament in 1989. He died from blood cancer at a London hospital at age 66, one year after the publication of his memoirs, A Time of Arab Decline: Memoirs of Arab Politics (1948–1964).