Mohammed VI of Morocco

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King Mohammed VI (Arabic: الملك محمد السادس للمغرب; born in 1963), also known as al-Hafiz al-Sayyid Mohammad Bin Al-Hassan al-Idrisi al-Hasani, is the King of Morocco. He ascended to the throne in July 1999.

Early monarchy

Mohammed was born in Rabat, Morocco on August 21, 1963, the eldest son and second child of King Hassan II and his wife, Lalla Latifa Hammou, from an important Berber family. Before becoming king, he held the title of Crown Prince. He was enthroned July 23, 1999, just hours after the death of his father. The young King soon became known as a moderniser who may have furthered the legitimacy of the constitutional monarchy, a political system that Morocco has followed since its 2nd March 1972 constitution.

Mohammed is the 18th king in the Alaouite dynasty, which has reigned in Morocco since 1666. He carries also, according to the Moroccan constitution, the title of Amir al-Mu'minin (Commander of the Faithful or religious chief).

Education

His father, the late King Hassan II, was keen on giving him a religious and political education from an early age. At the age of four, he started attending the Qur'anic school at the Royal Palace where he learned the Qur'an by heart, and received a religious and traditional education.

After primary and secondary studies at the Royal College and after he received his Baccalaureate in 1981, Mohammed obtained in 1985 a B.A in law at the College of law of the Mohammed V University in Rabat. His research paper dealt with "the Arab-African Union and the Strategy of the Kingdom of Morocco in matters of International Relations."

In 1987 he obtained his first Certificat d'Études Supérieures (CES) in political sciences and in July 1988 he obtained a Diplôme d'Études Approfondies DEA in public law.

In November 1988 he trained in Brussels with Jacques Delors, then President of the European Commission.

He obtained his doctorate in law (PhD) with "Very Honourable" distinction and the Congratulations of the Jury on October 29, 1993 from the French University of Nice Sophia Antipolis for his thesis on "EEC-Maghreb Relations."

He is the recipient of an honorary degree by The George Washington University awarded in June 22, 2000 for his promotion of democracy in Morocco.

Mohammed was promoted to the rank of Major General on July 12, 1994.

Social reform and liberalization

Shortly after he took the throne, he addressed his nation via television, promising to take on poverty and corruption, while creating jobs and improving Morocco's human rights record. Mohammed VI is generally opposed by Islamist conservatives, and some of his reforms have angered fundamentalists. He also created a new family code, or Mudawana, which granted women more power. The law came into effect in February, 2004.

H.M King Mohammed VI also created the so-called Instance Equité et Réconciliation (IER), a commission, which was supposed to research human rights violations under Hassan II. The commission was however not allowed to mention Mohammed's predecessor or report about human rights violations since 1999, when Mohammed was enthroned. This move was welcomed by many as a move towards democracy, but also criticized because the commission could not criticize the violation of freedom of speech, which according to human rights organisations still exists in Morocco.

Family

Mohammed has one brother, Prince Moulay Rachid, and three sisters, Princess Lalla Meryem, Princess Lalla Asma, and Princess Lalla Hasna.

On March 21, 2002 he married Salma Bennani (now HRH Princess Lalla Salma) in Rabat, giving her the title of Princess. The King and Princess Lalla Salma have two children, Crown Prince Moulay Hassan, who was born on May 8, 2003 and Princess Lalla Khadija who was born on February 28, 2007.

Jail Sentence of Foudad Mourtad controversy

On Tuesday, February 5^th, 2008, Fouad Mourtada was arrested for the alleged creation of a fake Facebook profile of Prince Moulay Rachid, brother of Mohammed. Mr Mourtada told family members who visited him in jail that he had been blindfolded and beaten unconscious at the time of his arrest.

Despite numerous profiles of other celebrities (41 Nicolas Sarkozy, 10 Prince William of England, Jacque Chirac, Roger Federer, George W Bush, etc) on Facebook, on February 23rd, Fouad Mourtada was sentenced to 3 years in jail for the alleged creation of the fake Facebook profile and fined 10,000 Dirhamrs (~1,350 US Dollars). As of today, Prince Moulay Rachid and Mohammed have done nothing to reverse this sentence.

References

Müller, Tobias. Königliche Wahrheiten in Jungle World November 23 2005. ISSN 1613-0766

External links

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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 17:42:52 PDT (GMT -0700)
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