NAHHAS PASHA, MUSTAFA AN-

born June 15, 1876, Samannud, Egypt died Aug. 23, 1965, Alexandria statesman who, as the leader of the nationalist Wafd party, was a dominant figure in Egyptian politics until the revolution of 1952. A lawyer by profession, Nahhas was appointed a judge in 1904. Soon after World War I he joined the recently formed Wafd, assuming the chairmanship upon Sa'd Zaghlul's death in 1927. Thus he embarked upon a career during which he was prime minister of Egypt on five occasions. His first term of office as prime minister began in March 1928. His dismissal in June was occasioned by King Fu'ad I's antipathy to constitutional government and the displeasure of the British high commissioner over his introduction of legislation demanded by the extreme nationalist wing of the Wafd. Returned to power in 1929, he resigned in 1930 after differences with the King over limitation of the sovereign's power. Appointed prime minister for the third time in May 1936, he headed the Egyptian delegation to London to negotiate an Anglo-Egyptian treaty of alliance (August 1936) in response to the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. After Fu'ad's death in April 1936, the young king Farouk I immediately disagreed with Nahhas over limiting the king's powers and, significantly, over international policies; he dismissed the Prime Minister in December 1937. At the onset of World War II, Nahhas supported the Allies, while the King vacillated. Nahhas' pro-Allied position brought him to power once again in February 1942. The British ambassador, armed with an ultimatum and backed by a show of military force, confronted Farouk with the choice of either abdicating or appointing Nahhas prime minister. Farouk chose the latter; elections in March of that year gave the Wafd an overwhelming victory, but Farouk again dismissed Nahhas in 1944, after the British had withdrawn their support from him. Nahhas' final term of office began in January 1950, amid signs of collaboration with the King. Once in office he called for the abrogation of the 1936 treaty with Britain and declared Farouk king of Egypt and the Sudan. By this time popular opposition was growing both to the corruption in and policies of the palace and the Wafd, resulting in agitation and disorders in Cairo, on the basis of which Farouk dismissed Nahhas in 1952.