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General
Mohamed Medbouh
General Mohamed Medbouh
محمد المدبوح
	Medbouh in 1963
General Inspector of the Royal Guard
	In office; 5 September 1963 – 10 July 1971
Minister of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones
	In office; 1958–1960
Monarch	Mohammed V
Prime Minister	Abdallah Ibrahim
Personal details
Born	17 July 1927; Aknoul, Morocco
Died	10 July 1971 (aged 43); Skhirat, Morocco
Cause of death	Execution by shooting
Military service
Allegiance	France (before 1956); Morocco (after 1956)
Branch/service	Royal Moroccan Army
Years of service	1945–1971 (26 years)
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Indochina War; Tafilalt revolt (January 1957); Rif Revolt (1957–1959)

Mohamed Medbouh (Arabic: محمد المدبوح; 17 July 1927 – 10 July 1971) was a senior Moroccan Army officer. He was Minister of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones in the government of Abdallah Ibrahim (1958–1960). He was co-organizer with Colonel M'hamed Ababou of the coup against King Hassan II of Morocco of 10 July 1971.^[1]

Career

Mohamed Medbouh was a Berber from the Rif, ^[2] born on 17 July 1927.^[3] He was the son of a leader of Aknoul who fought for the French under General Hubert Lyautey against the Rif rebels under Muhammad Ibn 'Abd al-Karim al-Khattabi.^[4] His father's throat was cut during the fighting, but he survived; he gained the nickname "Medbouh", meaning "Cutthroat", which he passed on to his son.^[4] He is the older maternal half-brother of Lalla Latifa Amahzoune, wife of Hassan II.

Mohamed Medbouh received a military education with the elite Cadre Noir, and then served in Indochina. Medbouh supported King Mohammed V of Morocco in the push for independence in 1956.^{[citation needed]} In January 1957 there was an armed revolt against the king by Brahim Zedki Addi ou Bihi, the governor of Tafilalt province. Captain Mohamed Medbough was leader of one of two infantry battalions that moved into the mountains to suppress the revolt, which was achieved without difficulty.^[5] He became governor of Casablanca and then Minister of Posts.^[4]

King Hassan II succeeded to the throne on 26 February 1961. Medbouh was made the king's chief aide-de-camp.^[4] In July 1963 an alleged plot by the leftist National Union of Popular Forces party to kill the king in his bed was foiled. The plotters were said to have obtained detailed plans of the palace from Major Mohamed Medbouh, although Medbouh was not implicated.^[6] He was made head of the Royal Military Cabinet in 1967. He often went riding with Hassan II, or played golf with him.^[4] Medbouh was one of the king's closest supporters.^[7]

Skhirate coup attempt

In the summer of 1971 Medbouh went to the United States for medical treatment. While there, at the request of King Hassan II, he made inquiries into the reason why Pan American World Airways had decided against building an Intercontinental Hotel in Casablanca. He was told the company had decided not to proceed after they had been asked by government officials for sizable "commissions".^[2] On hearing this, the king fired four of his cabinet ministers. Some said that the dismissals took place only after the ministers had made enough money from corrupt practices and it was time for others to take their turn.^[8] Medbouh felt the dismissals were not sufficient: the ministers should be tried and punished. He plotted a coup with Colonel M'hamed Ababou, the commander of the Military Training Academy.^[2] Colonel Larbi Chelouati was another leader.^[9]

The attack was made on 10 July 1971 at the king's palace at Skhirat, on the Atlantic coast about 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Rabat, during the celebrations of the king's forty-second birthday.^[9] About 800 senior government members, foreign diplomats, military officers and other members of the elite were present. About 1,200^[a] military cadets attacked, firing automatic weapons into the crowd at random, and killing almost 100 guests.^[2] The cadets had been told they were protecting the king against insurgents who had taken over the palace. They ran out of control when they saw the luxury of the gathering.^[9] In a squabble between the coup leaders, M'hamed Ababou apparently shot Mohamed Medbouh at an early stage.^[9] Medbouh reportedly wished only for Hassan II to abdicate whereas Ababou had more radical demands.^[10] According to historian Michel Abitbol Medbouh's death occurred "under mysterious circumstances".^[11]

The king and his aides hid in a bathroom to avoid the shooting, then reasserted authority after being found. General Mohamed Oufkir arranged for loyal soldiers to oust the cadets from a radio station in Rabat from which they were proclaiming the end of the monarchy. Ababou was killed in a shoot-out. Ten of the leaders of the coup were executed, and others received harsh prison sentences.^[12]

References

Notes

^ Some sources say as many as 1,400 cadets were involved in the coup attempt.^[4]

Citations

^ Abitbol 2009, p. 573.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Howe 2005, p. 110.
^ "Le chef de l'insurrection : le général Medbouh" (in French). 13 July 1971. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Hughes 2006, p. 159.
^ Hughes 2006, p. 86.
^ Hughes 2006, p. 128.
^ Maddy-Weitzman 2011, p. 91.
^ Hughes 2006, p. 160.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sater 2009, p. 36.
^ Dalle, Ignace (9 March 2011). Hassan II:Entre tradition et absolutisme.
^ Abitbol 2009, p. 573-574.
^ Howe 2005, p. 111.

Abitbol, Michel (2009). Histoire du Maroc. Paris: Perrin.
Howe, Marvine (2 June 2005). Morocco : The Islamist Awakening and Other Challenges: The Islamist Awakening and Other Challenges. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-534698-5. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
Hughes, Stephen O. (1 March 2006). Morocco under King Hassan. ITHACA Press. ISBN 978-0-86372-312-4. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
Maddy-Weitzman, Bruce (2011). The Berber identity movement and the challenge to North African states. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-74505-6. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
Sater, James N. (30 November 2009). Morocco: Challenges to Tradition and Modernity. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-86409-8. Retrieved 9 May 2013.

External links

Histoire. Les minutes d’un anniversaire sanglant, article du magazine Telquel du 13 février 2009 relatant le coup d'État du 10 juillet 1971.
1971 : Le complot de Skhirat, Pierre Doublet, L'Express, 2 mars 2006