Muhammad Oufkir

1918 - 1972

Moroccan general and politician.

Muhammad Oufkir was from Middle Atlas Berber stock, from central Morocco. He served with distinction in the French army in Italy and Indochina during World War II and thereafter. When Morocco became independent of French colonialism in 1956, he was promoted to general and, in 1964, was appointed by King Hassan II as minister of the interior. In 1965, he was at the center of the Ben Barka affair and sentenced by a French court to life imprisonment (in absentia). In 1971, Oufkir led the suppression of an army coup attempt against King Hassan and was made minister of defense. In the next year, however, he helped organize a second coup attempt; following its collapse, he committed suicide.

Bibliography

Nelson, Harold D., ed. Morocco: A Country Study. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1985.

— MATTHEW S. GORDON