Dr Jamal Nasir

I returned from Africa just in time to attend a condolences event in Knightsbridge with the family of Dr Jamal Nasir, former Minister of Justice and Acting Foreign Minister of Jordan, who has died, aged 92. I had been due to join him in Amman this autumn, to launch the Arabic edition of his autobiography Under My Wig*, which I ghost-wrote for him; the English edition came out last year and a kindle version is in the works. He had a fascinating life, being born near Jerusalem during the British Mandate of Palestine, studying at the American University of Beirut during World War II, then coming to England to do higher legal studies and being called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn in 1948. He retained chambers there until earlier this year, as well as offices in Amman, Muscat (Oman) and Beijing and at one time had a practice in Lagos, too. His energy was phenomenal, right up to the last. While Minister of Justice — appointed at the request of King Hussein, with whom he had a very close working relationship — he overhauled Jordan’s legal system, and while Acting Foreign Minister encountered everyone from Chairman Mao to the Shah of Persia and Mouammar Gaddafi. Throughout his life he was a passionate defender of the Palestinian cause. Indeed, one of his other books, on which I worked with him, was The Law of Belligerency and Israeli Occupation, clinically outlining how Israel has violated so many articles of the Geneva and Hague Conventions, and continues to do so. I shall miss him and our regular talks over lunch at Lincoln’s Inn.

[*Gilgamesh, £19.95]