MUFTI, SA'ID AL-

born c. 1898, , Amman, Ottoman Empire [now in Jordan] died March 25, 1989 Jordanian politician, three-time prime minister (AprilDec. 1950, MayDec. 1955, MayJune 1956), and leader of the influential non-Arab Circassian community in Jordan. In 1924 al-Mufti entered local government service in Amman, where he vigorously opposed British rule. He joined the governing cabinet of Transjordan (later Jordan) as minister of communications (1944) and held numerous other posts, notably that of interior minister. As a member of the Circassian minority, Mufti was generally respected by the Palestinians living in Jordan, and, after the formal annexation of the West Bank (194950), he was prime minister and later deputy prime minister. During the controversy over Jordan's possible membership in the Baghdad Pact mutual security organization (195556), Mufti was recalled as prime minister by King Hussein in an effort to regain public support. In 1963 he left the cabinet to become the president of the senate, a position he held until 1974.