Ahmed Dlimi
Encyclopedia
Ahmed Dlimi was a Moroccan
General
(b. 1931 - d. 22 January 1983) under the rule of Hassan II. After General Mohamed Oufkir
's 1972 assassination, he became Hassan II's right-hand man. He was promoted to General during the Green March
in 1975, and took charge of the Moroccan Armed Forces in the Southern Zone, where the military were fighting the Polisario Front
. Ahmed Dlimi was also a member of the royal Military Council and in charge of the Army's security service abroad. He died in January 1983, officially in a car crash, although allegations have been made that he was assassinated. He was is accused of being responsible for the death of Mehdi Ben Barka in November 1965
and played an important role as a military supporter of King Hassan II during the Years of lead
. A collaborator of Interior Minister Mohamed Oufkir
, he was accused of numerous human rights
violations. He was reportedly connected to the "disappearance" of the exiled opposition leader Mehdi Ben Barka
, leader of the left-wing National Union of Popular Forces
(UNPF) and of the non-aligned Tricontinental Conference, in 1965, in Paris, France
According to the first judicial investigation, Ahmed Dlimi was in Paris, along with General Oufkir, at the time of Ben Barka's kidnapping.
Former dissident and prisoner Ali Bourequat
has also directly accused Dlimi of taking part in Ben Barka's assassination.
After two failed coup attempts in 1970 and 1972 (the latter of which involved the assistance of General Oufkir), Dlimi was entrusted with increasingly important tasks and promoted to the rank of General. He eventually replaced Oufkir as right-hand man to Hassan II.
Some sources claim that he personally executed his superior, General
Mohamed Oufkir
, on the orders of the King, after Oufkir was found responsible for the coup d'état
of 1972.
in 1975, during which Morocco annexed Western Sahara
, a former administrative part of Spanish Morocco
, General Dlimi became head of staff of the Moroccan Armed Forces in this territory. Western Sahara was then claimed both by Morocco and by the Polisario Front
, which initiated a guerrilla against Rabat
. In 1980, Dlimi initiated the construction of a wall, stating it was to protect the annexed Western Sahara from the Polisario's attacks. The latter became increasingly restricted to its base, Tindouf
, in Algeria
.
Ahmed Dlimi was increasingly viewed as the main military strongman of Morocco. However, in January 1983, he was killed in a car accident just after meeting the King in his palace at Marrakech
. However, there are allegations that he was assassinated after attempting to organize a coup against King Hassan II, or that he was killed for having become too powerful, and a threat to the monarchy. The French correspondent of Le Monde
newspaper was expelled from Morocco for expressing doubts about the official account of Dlimi's death. The assassination theory has been supported by dissident Ahmed Rami in March 1983, who exiled himself to Sweden after the failed coup of 1972 in which he had taken part. Rami alleged that he had clandestinely met with Dlimi in Stockholm in December 1982, and that they were preparing a coup against Hassan II, due for July 1983. Dlimi was allegedly part of the "Independent Officers" who intended to overthrow the monarchy, in order to put an end to the regime's corruption and human rights violations. They aimed to establish a "Democratic Arab Islamic Republic of Morocco" and to negotiate with the Polisario Front.
According to Ahmed Rami, several young military officers were arrested mid-January 1983. Dlimi himself was also arrested, interrogated and tortured in the royal palace, before his death being set up as a car-crash. Dlimi is said to have advocated a closer relationship to France in order to counter US influence. Rami wrote that: "Hassan's closest circle, which also counts foreign secret agents, very well knows the circumstances of Dlimi's death." This veiled allusion to the CIA was elaborated upon by Rami, who claimed that the CIA was investigating Dlimi as a secret member of the "Independent Officers"; that they had filmed the Stockholm meeting between them, and had ultimately delivered this video to Hassan II. Morocco was at the time a very close ally of the United States. Hassan II had sent troops to Zaire
in 1977 and 1978 to support US intervention, and also assisted UNITA
in Angola since the mid-1970s. He had agreed to the setting up of a CIA station in Morocco, which became one of its key installations in Africa. Hassan II had visited US Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger
and the State Secretary Al Haig
in 1981, as well as the president of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
and the Deputy Director of the CIA
.
After Dlimi's death, fifteen other officers were arrested and three of them executed. No one was allowed to see Ahmed Dlimi's corpse.
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
(b. 1931 - d. 22 January 1983) under the rule of Hassan II. After General Mohamed Oufkir
Mohamed Oufkir
General Mohammad Oufkir was a Moroccan Berber politician.As the right hand man of king Hassan II in the 1960s and early 1970s, Oufkir led government supervision of politicians, unionists and the religious establishment...
's 1972 assassination, he became Hassan II's right-hand man. He was promoted to General during the Green March
Green March
The Green March was a strategic mass demonstration in November 1975, coordinated by the Moroccan government, to force Spain to hand over the disputed, autonomous semi-metropolitan Spanish Province of Sahara to Morocco.-Background:...
in 1975, and took charge of the Moroccan Armed Forces in the Southern Zone, where the military were fighting the Polisario Front
Polisario Front
The POLISARIO, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco...
. Ahmed Dlimi was also a member of the royal Military Council and in charge of the Army's security service abroad. He died in January 1983, officially in a car crash, although allegations have been made that he was assassinated. He was is accused of being responsible for the death of Mehdi Ben Barka in November 1965
Before the Green March
Ahmed Dlimi headed the Moroccan security servicesSecurity agency
A security agency is a governmental organization which conducts intelligence activities for the internal security of a nation. They are the domestic cousins of foreign intelligence agencies...
and played an important role as a military supporter of King Hassan II during the Years of lead
Years of Lead (Morocco)
The Years of Lead is the term used especially by former opponents to the rule of King Hassan II of Morocco to describe a period of his rule marked by state violence against dissidents and democracy activists.-Timeframe:...
. A collaborator of Interior Minister Mohamed Oufkir
Mohamed Oufkir
General Mohammad Oufkir was a Moroccan Berber politician.As the right hand man of king Hassan II in the 1960s and early 1970s, Oufkir led government supervision of politicians, unionists and the religious establishment...
, he was accused of numerous human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
violations. He was reportedly connected to the "disappearance" of the exiled opposition leader Mehdi Ben Barka
Mehdi Ben Barka
Mehdi Ben Barka was a Moroccan politician, head of the left-wing National Union of Popular Forces and secretary of the Tricontinental Conference...
, leader of the left-wing National Union of Popular Forces
National Union of Popular Forces
The National Union of Popular Forces was founded in 1959 in Morocco by Mehdi Ben Barka and his entourage, because they found that the Istiqlal Party - which had led the independence struggle - wasn't radical enough.Espousing socialist policies, the party took a strongly critical line towards the...
(UNPF) and of the non-aligned Tricontinental Conference, in 1965, in Paris, France
According to the first judicial investigation, Ahmed Dlimi was in Paris, along with General Oufkir, at the time of Ben Barka's kidnapping.
Former dissident and prisoner Ali Bourequat
Ali Bourequat
Ali Bourequat was a French citizen of Moroccan origins living in Rabat, Morocco. He is a writer and former forcibly disappeared. As a successful businessman, he came from a rich family of Turkish origin close to the court of king Hassan II....
has also directly accused Dlimi of taking part in Ben Barka's assassination.
After two failed coup attempts in 1970 and 1972 (the latter of which involved the assistance of General Oufkir), Dlimi was entrusted with increasingly important tasks and promoted to the rank of General. He eventually replaced Oufkir as right-hand man to Hassan II.
Some sources claim that he personally executed his superior, General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Mohamed Oufkir
Mohamed Oufkir
General Mohammad Oufkir was a Moroccan Berber politician.As the right hand man of king Hassan II in the 1960s and early 1970s, Oufkir led government supervision of politicians, unionists and the religious establishment...
, on the orders of the King, after Oufkir was found responsible for the coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
of 1972.
After 1975
After the Green MarchGreen March
The Green March was a strategic mass demonstration in November 1975, coordinated by the Moroccan government, to force Spain to hand over the disputed, autonomous semi-metropolitan Spanish Province of Sahara to Morocco.-Background:...
in 1975, during which Morocco annexed Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
, a former administrative part of Spanish Morocco
Spanish Morocco
The Spanish protectorate of Morocco was the area of Morocco under colonial rule by the Spanish Empire, established by the Treaty of Fez in 1912 and ending in 1956, when both France and Spain recognized Moroccan independence.-Territorial borders:...
, General Dlimi became head of staff of the Moroccan Armed Forces in this territory. Western Sahara was then claimed both by Morocco and by the Polisario Front
Polisario Front
The POLISARIO, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco...
, which initiated a guerrilla against Rabat
Rabat
Rabat , is the capital and third largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco with a population of approximately 650,000...
. In 1980, Dlimi initiated the construction of a wall, stating it was to protect the annexed Western Sahara from the Polisario's attacks. The latter became increasingly restricted to its base, Tindouf
Tindouf
Tindouf is the main town in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian and Moroccan borders. The region is considered of strategic significance, and it houses Algerian military bases. Since 1975, it also contains several Sahrawi refugee camps operated by the Polisario Front a guerrilla...
, in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
.
Ahmed Dlimi was increasingly viewed as the main military strongman of Morocco. However, in January 1983, he was killed in a car accident just after meeting the King in his palace at Marrakech
Marrakech
Marrakech or Marrakesh , known as the "Ochre city", is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history...
. However, there are allegations that he was assassinated after attempting to organize a coup against King Hassan II, or that he was killed for having become too powerful, and a threat to the monarchy. The French correspondent of Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
newspaper was expelled from Morocco for expressing doubts about the official account of Dlimi's death. The assassination theory has been supported by dissident Ahmed Rami in March 1983, who exiled himself to Sweden after the failed coup of 1972 in which he had taken part. Rami alleged that he had clandestinely met with Dlimi in Stockholm in December 1982, and that they were preparing a coup against Hassan II, due for July 1983. Dlimi was allegedly part of the "Independent Officers" who intended to overthrow the monarchy, in order to put an end to the regime's corruption and human rights violations. They aimed to establish a "Democratic Arab Islamic Republic of Morocco" and to negotiate with the Polisario Front.
According to Ahmed Rami, several young military officers were arrested mid-January 1983. Dlimi himself was also arrested, interrogated and tortured in the royal palace, before his death being set up as a car-crash. Dlimi is said to have advocated a closer relationship to France in order to counter US influence. Rami wrote that: "Hassan's closest circle, which also counts foreign secret agents, very well knows the circumstances of Dlimi's death." This veiled allusion to the CIA was elaborated upon by Rami, who claimed that the CIA was investigating Dlimi as a secret member of the "Independent Officers"; that they had filmed the Stockholm meeting between them, and had ultimately delivered this video to Hassan II. Morocco was at the time a very close ally of the United States. Hassan II had sent troops to Zaire
Zaire
The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...
in 1977 and 1978 to support US intervention, and also assisted UNITA
UNITA
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the Angolan War for Independence and then against the MPLA in the ensuing civil war .The war was one...
in Angola since the mid-1970s. He had agreed to the setting up of a CIA station in Morocco, which became one of its key installations in Africa. Hassan II had visited US Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger
Caspar Weinberger
Caspar Willard "Cap" Weinberger , was an American politician, vice president and general counsel of Bechtel Corporation, and Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan from January 21, 1981, until November 23, 1987, making him the third longest-serving defense secretary to date, after...
and the State Secretary Al Haig
Al Haig
Alan Warren Haig was an American jazz pianist, best known as one of the pioneers of bebop.Haig was born in Newark, New Jersey...
in 1981, as well as the president of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It is charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. The Foreign Relations Committee is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid programs as...
and the Deputy Director of the CIA
Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
The Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency is a senior United States government official in the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency...
.
After Dlimi's death, fifteen other officers were arrested and three of them executed. No one was allowed to see Ahmed Dlimi's corpse.
See also
- History of republicanism in MoroccoHistory of republicanism in MoroccoIn the history of Morocco, there have been a few attempts to establish republican forms of government:*Moor refugees from Andalusia formed in Salé and Rabat the Republic of Bou Regreg, a base for piracy...