Omar Faiek Shennib

Omar Faiek Shennib
Omar Faiek Shennib, to the right of King Idris al Senussi in 1951
Born1883
Derna, Ottoman Empire
Died28 July 1953 (aged 69–70)
Tripoli, Libya
TitleMinister of Defence of Libya, Chief of Royal Diwans, Vice President of National Assembly
RelativesAhmed Fouad Shennib
Abdul-Aziz Shennib (son)
Wanis al-Qaddafi (son-in-law)
A portrait of Shennib.

Sir Omar Faiek Shennib (Omar Fayek Shennib, Omar Shannib, Omar Shannaib[1]) (Arabic: عمر فائق شنيب) was Libyan Minister of Defence, Chief of the Royal Diwan, and the Vice President of the Libyan National Assembly[2] under the reign of King Idris Al Senussi. Omar Faiek Shennib was the patriarch of the House of Shennib, a notable Libyan family. The Omar Faiek Shennib Avenue in Derna was named after him posthumously.

Career

1941 Cyrenaican Delegation to the UN

Shennib served as President of the Cyrenaican delegation to the United Nations in the post-war period and was instrumental in the creation of a unified Libyan state in the years immediately following World War II after the withdrawal of Axis forces from the North African coast.[3] Together with Idris, Shennib was part of the 1941 delegation to the UN which put forth the case for the unification of the three traditional free-standing regions, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fezzan into the single nation state of Libya. Following independence on 24 December 1951, he was appointed Chief of the Royal Diwans [4]

Libyan Independence and Flag of Libya

Flag of Libya
Proportion1:2
Adopted24 December 1951
17 February 2011
DesignA horizontal tricolour of red, black and green with a white crescent and star centered on the black stripe

Omar Faiek Shennib is credited for the design of the independence Flag of Libya: this flag represented Libya from its independence until 1951 to 1969, and which was re-adopted by the rebel movement during the 2011 Libyan Civil War. According to the memoirs of Adrian Pelt, UN commissioner for Libya (1949 to 1951), “during deliberations of the Libyan National Constitutional Convention, a paper drawing of a proposed national flag was presented to the convention by Omar Faiek Shennib (distinguished member of the delegation from Cyrenaica). The design was composed of three colors; red, black and green, with a white Crescent and Star centered in the middle black stripe. Mr. Shennib informed the delegates that this design had met the approval of His Highness Emir of Cyrenaica, King Idris Al Senussi (later to become King of Libya). The assembly subsequently approved that design.”.[5]

Vice Presidency of the Libyan National Assembly

Shennib served as one of the Vice Presidents of the Libyan National Assembly until his death in 1953, and was a signatory to the first Libyan Constitution of 1951 (later amended in 1961). Other signatories were Mohamed Abulas’ad El-Alem, President of the National Assembly, and another Vice-President of the National Assembly Abu Baker Ahmed Abu Baker.[6]

Notes

  1. ^ Developments of the Quarter: Comment and Chronology, Middle East Journal, Vol. 5, No. 3 (Summer 1951), pp. 337–352
  2. ^ Developments of the Quarter: Comment and Chronology, Middle East Journal, Vol. 7, No. 4 (Autumn 1953), pp. 504–519.
  3. ^ Fadhel Jamali, Mohommed. ‘Arab Struggle; Experiences of Mohammed Fadhel Jamali.’ Widener Library, Harvard University. WID-LC DS 7953.J34 1974x http://www.physics.harvard.edu/~wilson/Fadhel.html Archived 2012-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Simons, Geoffrey Leslie. Libya: the struggle for Survival pp.155
  5. ^ "National Flag of Libya". Archived from the original on 2015-10-31. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
  6. ^ Chronology of International Events and Documents, Royal Institute of International Affairs. Vol. 7, No. 8 (5–18 April 1951), pp. 213-244