His more moderate line, focused on an alliance with all potential progressive and national forces, seemed more likely to yield results; in any case, the series of confrontations with the police which Uthman had incited had greatly weakened the organisation and were clearly not sustainable.

Al-Radi reorganised the Central Committee, and the following year succeeded in reuniting the party, bringing two dissident groups back into the fold.

Al-Radi's moderate approach was similar to that of Khalid Bakdash, secretary of the Syrian Communist Party and elder statesman of Arab communism.

However, Qasim's harsh reaction to the party's demand for a share in government in May 1959 brought about disagreement between them, with Abdallah favouring compromise and al-Radi pushing for a more radical approach.

The party suffered something of a crisis in the summer of 1959, with a minor crackdown by Qasim coinciding with the disturbances of July 1959 in Kirkuk, for which the Communists were widely blamed.

However, with the party increasingly weak, al-Radi himself saw no alternative to a continued policy of critical support for Qasim, despite a renewed wave of repression in May 1962 following Communist-led demonstrations against the Kurdish war.

The Baathist coup of 8 February 1963 came as no surprise to the Communists, but they were unable to mobilize their supporters in the armed forces to oppose it effectively.

Al-Radi reacted immediately by drawing up an appeal for mass resistance to the coup, and Communist supporters defended poorer districts of Baghdad against the new government until 10 February, suffering heavy losses.