"rightist" line was denounced, Abdallah left for Eastern Europe, and the three assistant secretaries were removed from the Central Committee. However, with the party increasingly weak, al-Radi himself saw no alternative to a continued policy of critical support for Qasim, despite a renewed wave of repression in May 1962 following Communist-led demonstrations against the Kurdish war. In late 1962, the Kurdish Democratic Party suggested that the Communists collaborate with them in a coup attempt, but the latter rejected the idea. In January 1963, they warned Qasim that plans were afoot for a nationalist coup. The Baathist coup of 8 February 1963 came as no surprise to the Communists, but they were unable to mobilize their supporters in the armed forces to oppose it effectively. Al-Radi reacted immediately by drawing up an appeal for mass resistance to the coup, and Communist supporters defended poorer districts of Baghdad against the new government until 10 February, suffering heavy losses. Capture and death The new regime was quick to act against the Communists, capturing many of them and killing hundreds either in the fighting or in its jails and torture chambers. Al-Radi was captured on 20 February, and executed by hanging soon afterwards, of which the Government officially announced. There is an opinion that he died under torture four days after his arrest without divulging any information. Personal life In 1953, Al-Radi married Thamina Naji Yousseff, a communist and feminist activist, and had three children with her: Iman Husain Ahmed Al-musawi, Shatha Husain Ahmed Al-Musawi and Ali Husain Ahmed Al-Moussaoui. See also Iraqi art Islamic art List of Iraqi artists Sources The Old Social Classes and New Revolutionary Movements of Iraq, Hanna Batatu, London, al-Saqi Books, 2000. 1924 births 1963 deaths 20th-century poets 20th-century Iraqi painters 20th-century executions by Iraq Executed Iraqi people Hashemite people Iraqi activists 20th-century Iraqi poets Iraqi communists Iraqi Communist Party politicians People executed by Iraq by hanging People from Najaf 20th-century Iraqi people Executed communists