Sir Alec Seath Kirkbride (1897 - 1978) was a British diplomat.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Sources 3 Works 4 External links 5 See also

[edit] Biography

He began his military career as an officer in the army of General Allenby from 1916 to 1921. In 1920, after the Battle of Maysalun and the fall of Faisal's government of Syria left Transjordan with no central authority, he was dispatched by the British government to Transjordan to help maintain order during this interregnum. "With a fine sense of history" he established the ephemeral but whimsically named "National Government of Moab" in Kerak with himself as President, which lasted until Abdullah took control of the country. (His younger brother Alan similarly formed the "Ammonite Government" in Amman.) From 1922 to 1927 and from 1937 to 1939, he was governor of Acre and of the district of Galilee in Palestine. He was Deputy Resident in Transjordan from (1927-1937) and Resident from 1939 to 1946, and was one of King Abdullah's leading British advisors.

In 1946, he was named ambassador of Great Britain to Amman and played an important diplomatic role during the 1948 Palestine war.

From 1952 to 1954, he was ambassador to Libya.

He ended his career as director of the British Bank of the Middle East, later writing academic books and articles on the Middle East, including two volumes of memoirs.

[edit] Sources

• Yoav Gelber. Palestine 1948: War, Escape And The Emergence Of The Palestinian Refugee Problem. Sussex Academic Pr. pp. p. 402. ISBN 1-84519-075-0. 
• Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins, O Jérusalem, Robert Laffont, 1971, p.870, ISBN 2266106988
• Howard Sachar. (1969). The Emergence of the Middle East: 1914-1924. Knopf. 
• Christopher Sykes (1965). Crossroads to Israel. World Publishing Company. 

[edit] Works

• Kirkbride, Alec Seath (1956). A Crackle of Thorns: Experiences in the Middle East. London: J. Murray. 

• Kirkbride, Alec Seath (1971). An Awakening: The Arab Campaign 1917-1918. Tavistock: University Press of Arabia. ISBN 0904066029. 

• Kirkbride, Alec Seath (1976). From the Wings: Amman Memoirs, 1947-1951. London: F. Cass. ISBN 0-7146-3061-6. 

[edit] External links

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Entry
• Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa entry Answers.com

[edit] See also

• 1948 Palestine war