Former Iraqi President. Former President of Iraq, Abdel Rahman Aref, a career army officer, whose rule was considered weak, was overthrown in a coup that brought Baath Party to power. Aref rose to power in 1963, five years after the bloody overthrow of the Iraqi monarchy, as army chief of staff. He became Iraq's third President in 1966 until 1968 when he was toppled in a bloodless coup by the Baath Party (pan-Arab socialist). He lived eleven years in exile in Istanbul before he was allowed to return home. Aref left Iraq again and settled in Jordan after the American-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. Abdel Rahman Aref who was born into a middle class family in Baghdad. He passed away in Amman, Jordan.