BAGHDAD: Field-Marshal Abdus Salam Aref, the President of Iraq, and two of his Ministers were killed last night [April 13] when their plane crashed in a sandstorm near Al-Basrah (Basra).

Marshal Aref, principal architect of the coup d`état that overthrew the monarchy on July 14, 1958, and perhaps the staunchest Arab ally of President Gamal Abdel Nasser of the United Arab Republic, was 47 years old.

Radio Baghdad, which interrupted its programmes to announce the news this morning, identified the other victims as Interior Minister Abdul Latif Al-Darraji and Minister of Industry and Planning, Mustafa Abdullah.

[Meanwhile, as reported by our Special Representative from Islamabad,] President Ayub Khan and Foreign Minister Z. A. Bhutto have expressed profound grief at the tragic death, in a plane crash, of President Abdus SalamMohammad Aref and two Ministers of Iraqi Government.

The Central Finance Minister, Mr Mohammad Shoaib, has, in a statement, also expressed grief at the death of the Iraqi President.

In a condolence message to the Prime Minister of Iraq, Dr Abdul Rahman al-Bazzaz, President Ayub said: `I have been shocked to learn that President Abdus Salam Mohammad Aref and two Ministers of the Government of Iraq have died in a plane crash. We vividly recall President Aref`s visit to Pakistan in 1964. His sincerity and dedication left a very deep impression on the Government and the people of Pakistan.