Khalil Kanna

Khalil Kanna was born in Fallujah in 1905 to the Sunni Muslim al-Bayati family which was of Turcoman origin.^[1] His uncle, Abd al-Majid Kanna, was a shaqawati outlaw during British colonial rule over Iraq and had fought during the 1920 Iraqi Revolt in which he killed several British troops. He spread leaflets throughout communities calling for resistance. As a result of his actions, Abd al-Majid was captured, tried, and executed by British troops and was buried in the Sheikh Junaid cemetery in al-Karkh.^[2] He studied primary school at al-Tafayudh Private School in Baghdad and secondary school at the American University in Beirut, and graduated from the Iraqi College of Law in 1932.^[3]

ng of the 1930 Anglo-Iraqi treaty, Kanna joined the Ahali group led by Ja'far Abu al-Timman. However, he and others later left the group due to its leftist leanings that contradicted their Arab nationalist views. But due to their association, they were still tried, and the Baghdad Criminal Court sentenced him to six months in prison. After he and his colleagues completed their sentences, they were released and returned to their studies at the College of Law, from which he graduated in 1932.^[3]

On March 12, 1946, he was one of the founders of the Arab nationalist al-Istiqlal Party, led by Sheikh Muhammad Mahdi Kubba, and it was approved on April 2, 1946. He was in charge of the newspaper, the Liwa al-Istiqlal. Later, Kanna was elected to the House of Representatives for the eleventh electoral term, which lasted from 17 March 1947 to 23 February 1948.^[3]

He held various ministerial positions between 1950 and 1957, including Minister without Portfolio in Tawfiq al-Suwaidi's third cabinet, Minister of Education in Tawfiq al-Suwaidi's third, eleventh, and twelfth cabinets, as well as in Jamil al-Midfa'i's sixth and seventh cabinets.^[3] During the 1956 Suez Crisis, a group of 55 Iraqi professors were exiled to Tikrit after Kanna met with them, accusing the professors of inciting student protests. However, Kanna would then travel to Tikrit to inform the professors that the decision of revoking their academic status would be dismissed and that they would return to their homes and jobs.^[4]

In Nuri al-Sa'id's thirteenth cabinet, he was appointed the Minister of Finance.^[3] During this cabinet, Nuri Pasha formed a minstrel committee to legislate a law to purge the government of corrupt figures who dealt with bribes. Efforts were made by Kanna to pass this law and deal with the obstacles that came with it. However, several influential political parties were against this law out of fear that it would make them lose power in Iraqi politics. This led to Kanna's resignation from the position despite Nuri Pasha's dissuading.^[5]

Khalil Kanna was described by associates who worked with him as having self-confidence, competence, and critical thinking, as he was described as someone who only did things he thought were right. However, his views came into conflict with several authorities in the state, including the royal Regent and Crown Prince Abd al-Ilah. He had attempted to disqualify Kanna from the political elite but eventually decided against it. This was because achieving this would only work by distancing him from Nuri al-Sa'id, who was Kanna's mentor and family relative. Kanna became the general secretary of Nuri Pasha's political party, the Constitutional Union Party. Because of his familial connections with Kanna, Nuri Pasha also appointed him as his spokesman. Kanna's views also aligned with Nuri Pasha's and would sometimes reflect Nuri Pasha's views.^[6] Kanna later accused Abd al-Ilah of having a hand in letting him resign from his position as Minister of Finance.^[5]

• Al-Zahiri, Ghazun (2017). Prince Abd al-Ilah bin Ali al-Hashemi, Regent of the Throne of Iraq (in Arabic). Al-Manhal. ISBN 9796500316864.