Word: hassanal
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Hassan is a master of nondemocratic means. After price increases led to bloody rioting and some 100 deaths in January, he blamed much of the unrest on Muslim fundamentalist groups. The police stepped up surveillance in mosques and tightened religious censorship; Hassan imprisoned as many as 1,000 suspected agitators. Just two months ago, 13 of the 71 activists accused of conspiring to overthrow the King were sentenced to death...
Meanwhile, the King has cultivated abroad an unlikely assortment of friends. Morocco, which sits strategically on the southern bank of the Strait of Gibraltar, is considered by Washington to be a useful ally and a potentially valuable airbase. In return, the U.S. provides Hassan with $140 million in aid and an arsenal of sophisticated arms. Nonetheless, the King remains very much his own master, as evidenced by his recent treaty with Libya, a major U.S. foe. He apparently hopes that the surprise agreement may help revive his stricken economy with infusions of Libyan oil and investment...
...been devastated by a four-year drought. The guerrilla war in the Sahara continues to cost at least $ 1 million a day. Two-fifths of the population is below poverty line, according to World Bank figures, and thousands live in makeshift huts in the increasingly swollen cities. Meanwhile, Hassan maintains a regal lifestyle. This week, for instance, he is host to a lavish celebration of a daughter's wedding in Fez, at one of nine sumptuous palaces...
Both radical Marxists and Muslim fundamentalists hope that such disparities of wealth will inflame the resentment of the masses. But Hassan has a knack, it seems, for surviving resentment. Thirteen years ago, mutinous officers sent 1,400 cadets storming through the palace at Skhirat during a celebration, firing wildly in all directions. Some 100 guests were killed, but the King escaped unharmed. The following year, four F-5 jet fighters piloted by rebellious air force officers opened fire on Hassan's Boeing 727, destroying the landing gear as well as an engine. Cool as ever, Hassan reportedly took...
Nowadays, Morocco's 170,000-man army has no Minister of Defense or Chief of Staff to challenge Hassan, and only one active general. Ultimately, the King intends to pass the throne on to his son, Crown Prince Sidi Mohammed, now a 21-year-old student. Morocco's economic troubles show no signs of subsiding. But Hassan, like King Henry, has proved so resilient that even cynical Western observers are tempted to see him as his most devout followers do: as the 35th descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, blessed with divine protection. -By Pico Iyer. Reported by Philip...