Ahmed Maher Pasha was the Prime Minister of Egypt from October 10, 1944 to February 24, 1945. He was a member of the Saadist Institutional Party and was appointed Prime Minister following the removal of Mustafa an-Nahhas Pasha

Mustafa an-Nahhas Pasha

Mustafa el-Nahhas Pasha or Mustafa Nahhas was an Egyptian political figure.- Education, activism and exile :He was born in Samanud , where his father was a lumber merchant. He graduated from el-Nassereyya Elementary School in Cairo in 1891 and the Khedivial Secondary School in 1896...

 by King Farouk

Farouk of Egypt

Farouk I of Egypt , was the tenth ruler from the Muhammad Ali Dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 1936....

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After assuming power he called for new elections and opposed the candidacies of members of the Muslim Brotherhood

Muslim Brotherhood

The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...

, against whom he had declared a fatwa

Fatwa

A fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...

. All Muslim Brotherhood members were defeated in what were widely considered to be unfair elections. Maher then declared war against the Axis Powers

Axis Powers

The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...

 in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, primarily to gain a diplomatic advantage at the end of the war (which was seen as imminent). Immediately after his announcement, Maher was assassinated at parliament by 28-year-old Mustafa Essawy. Although it was assumed that Essawy was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, he later confessed that he was actually a member of the Wafd Party

Wafd Party

The Wafd Party was a nationalist liberal political party in Egypt. It was said to be Egypt's most popular and influential political party for a period in the 1920s and 30s...

 instead.

Ahmed Maher Pasha was the grandfather of Ahmed Maher

Ahmad Maher (diplomat)

Ahmad Maher was the foreign minister of Egypt from 2001 to 2004. He came from a family of diplomats and politicians...

, Egypt's Foreign Minister from 2001 to 2004, as well as Ambassador Aly Maher

Aly Maher

Aly Maher is a prominent Egyptian diplomat and intellectual figure. He is the grandson of Ahmad Mahir Pasha and brother of Ahmad Maher former minister of foreign affairs. He studied law at Cairo University. A skilled diplomat, Maher served his government in various diplomatic capacities...

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