During the implementation of the coup, Saddam was still in Cairo, affiliated with the Faculty of Law at Cairo University in 1961, and he returned to Iraq before completing his studies in the wake of the coup against the leader Abdel Karim Qassem.[12] After Saddam's arrival in Baghdad, he reintroduced himself to al-Bakr, who was appointed by President Abd al-Salam Aref as prime minister.