| abstract
| - The Revolutionary Committee of Qatif (Arabic: اللجنة الثورية القطيف) was the name of the Ba'athist junta that ruled Qatif from the Ba'athist military coup d'état in 1961 to the creation of the Arab Republic of Qatif in June 1972. During this time the official name of the country was simply "Qatif" (Arabic: القطيف). Following a period of intense political unrest in Qatif a group of military officers led by Mustafa al-Karim overthrew the al-Tahir dynasty which had ruled Qatif as a sultanate since 1729. The new military government quickly turned Qatif into a single-party state led by the Qatifi Ba'ath Party which was led by al-Karim. The legislature was dissolved as a temporary government known as the Revolutionary Committee (which consisted of military officers and senior Ba'athists) ruled by decree in a continuous state of enforced martial law. A de facto tetrarchy was formed led by al-Karim (Chairman of the Defence Committee and the regional secretary of Ba'ath Party), Rifaat Abdul (Chairman of the Finance Committee) Omar Zaki (Chairman of the Committee of Information and the Press), and Othman al-Hussein (Chairman of the Interior Committee) as the country followed an Arab nationalist, neo-Marxist ideology. During its later years the tetrarchy broke down following the purging of Zaki, Abdul, and al-Hussein by al-Karim. Under the Revolutionary Committee Qatif went through profound social, economic and political change. Many businesses and industries were nationalised with central planning being utilised as the country industrialised and modernised through land reform and redistributive policies. Universal healthcare and eduction was introduced as well as numerous infrastructure and housing projects being undertaken. This resulted in a dramatic raise in living standards alongside life expectancy and literacy rates. Secularisation was enforced with Islamic law being banned and women being treated equally to men in the eyes of the law following the enactment of the 1962 Revised Penal Code, with women's rights becoming a government priority. However the new laws also saw political dissent heavily repressed. Prison camps were built as a secret police (known as the Idarat al-Mukhabarat al-Qatif, or simply the al-Mukhabarat) was used to spy on the majority of the population as well as torture and execute political prisoners. The secularisation measures saw numerous mosques closed down, Islamic clothing banned, many religious figures imprisoned and even the boarder to Saudi Arabia closed causing many citizens to be unable to perform the Haji. It is estimated that around 2,000 people were killed in political purges under the Revolutionary Committee. Qatif also changed its foreign policy whilst under the Committee becoming aligned towards the Eastern Bloc and other Arab Nationalist states such as Egypt and Syria having previously been allied with the first world as well as being part of CENTO. Qatif aided Arab forces in the 1967 Arab–Israeli War after which it entered a period of economic downturn. Harsh austerity measures, economic depression, state oppression, and disagreements within the regime led to al-Karim to sanction an invasion of the Shia majority Sheikdom of Bahrain in 1971, which was considered part of historical Qatifi territory. The invasion was successful prompting an upsurge of nationalist support for the regime. However the invasion of Bahrain saw the Trucial States, whom held official sovereignty over Bahrain, declare war on Qatif starting the Qatif-Trucial War. Qatif lost Bahrain and was invaded by the Trucial States, whose invasion was eventually repelled with the Baghdad Agreement securing peace in November. In December 1971 al-Karim announced multi-party elections were to be held the next year. In 1972 the Revolutionary Committee was dissolved and the Arab Republic of Qatif declared in its place, although al-Karim and the Ba'ath Party still held control following rigged elections.
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