Müşir Recep Paşa

Rexhep Pasha Mati (, Rajab Pasha; 1842–1908) was an Ottoman-Albanian marshal, governor and war minister.

Vali of Tripolitana Abdul Hamid II was aware of Mati's animosity for his government and himself with the Pasha being politically suspect. Mati opposed the activities of the Italian Bank Banco di Roma operating in Ottoman Libya. Mohamed Fekini, the kaymakam (sub-governor) of Fassatu had been decorated by Mati for repelling a French military incursion into Ottoman Libya back to the Tunisian border. Mati was against religious hatred. Mati inherited a dispute from the previous governor between the Jewish community and Ottoman government relating to payment of the military exemption tax.

Plot to overthrow Ottoman sultan

In 1902, an Ottoman officer Cemil Cahit was sent to Tripolitana and according to him had heard about the patriotism of Mati.

Between 1902 and 1903 a coup de detat plot to overthrow Abdulhamid II was devised by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP). A proposal by Colonel Shevket Bey, a leader of the CUP Tripoli branch was brought before the CUP central committee by Prince Mehmed Sabahaddin. Kemal also sent an Albanian confidant Xhafer Berxhani from Greece to see Mati in Tripoli. Eqrem Vlora, a member of the Vlora family stated that during this time Mati sent £1000 in gold to Kemal and assisted his son Tahir Pasha in exile at Tripoli to escape to Europe. Kemal was of the view that if Mati captured Selanik (modern Thessaloniki) with part of his army, it would make Albanians join his forces. The failure of the plan was put down to different reasons with Kemal blaming prolonged negotiations about obtaining ships, while Rexhep Pasha viewed Kemal's lukewarm attitude for the venture as reason to change his mind.

In 1904 Mati was involved in a plot where he would generate a military uprising in Tripoli, become the leader of rebels going to Istanbul and force Abdul Hamid II to either reinstate the constitution or renounce the throne. After holding office for a short period of time, Mati died of a heart attack. Rumors of the time claimed that Mati's heart attack was brought about due to the excitement of events he felt following the revolution.

In 1911 Dervish Hima published a book Musaver Arnavud (The Illustrated Albanian) in Ottoman Turkish and it contained content on important Albanians of the time and included a short article about Mati. After the death of Mati some newspaper articles by the CUP portrayed him as "not only a soldier but also a genius of politics". The European press was criticised by Albanian nationalists in newspaper articles for neglecting to mention the ethnic origin of Mati following his death.