General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Abdelaziz Bennani ( ar, عبد العزيز بناني – b. 28 September 1935,

Taza Taza ( ber, ⵜⴰⵣⴰ, ar, تازة) is a city in northern Morocco occupying the corridor between the Rif mountains and Middle Atlas mountains, about 120 km east of Fez and 150 km west of Al hoceima. It recorded a population of 148 ...

, d. 20 May 2015,

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

) was a senior

Moroccan Army zgh, ⵜⴰⵙⵔⴷⴰⵙⵜ ⵜⴰⴳⵍⴷⴰⵏⵜ , image = , caption = Flag of the Royal Moroccan Army , start_date = active since: 1088 CE current form: 14 May 1956 , ...

officer who was, between 27 July 2004 and 13 June 2014, "General Inspector of the Armed Forces", the professional head of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces, succeeding General Abdelhaq Kadiri. He was the commander of the ''Southern Zone'' since the death of General

Ahmed Dlimi Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...

. On 13 June 2014 and after reports which stated that he was in poor health and following treatment in France, Bennani was replaced, as the Inspector General of the Moroccan army and commander of the southern zone, by general

Bouchaib Arroub Bouchaib Arroub ( ar, بوشعيب عروب; born c. 1936) is a Moroccan army general. He held the position of the Inspector General of the Moroccan army between 13 June 2014 and January 2017. On 13 June 2014 Arroub was appointed by king Mohamm ...

Early life

Like other high-ranking officials of the Moroccan military, few personal details about Bennani are known. He was part of a class of military conscripts (The ''Promotion Mohammed V'') who in 1957, followed six-months training in the French military school Saint Cyr, under the supervision of then Crown Prince Hassan, after which they received the officer rank.

Family

His son Yahya Bennani is the Moroccan ambassador in Kuwait and previously worked in the Moroccan external intelligence service, the DGED.

Corruption allegations

The Moroccan military is plagued by corruption. A leaked U.S diplomatic cable from 2008, cited that it is particularly prevalent amongst the highest ranks. The cable went on to directly accuse Abdelaziz Bennani of corruption: In his 2006 book, ''"Les Officiers de Sa Majesté"''

Mahjoub Tobji Mahjoub Tobji ( ar, محجوب الطوبجي, born 1942 in Meknes) is a retired Commandant of the Royal Moroccan Army. He commanded a battalion of Sahrawi soldiers during the Moroccan Sahara war and was the Aide-de-camp of General Ahmed Dlimi ...

, a former

commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

in the Moroccan army, also accused Bennani, among other high-ranking officers, of corruption and

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

. Tobji cited, in addition to fisheries in

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the r ...

operated by high-ranking officers,

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and of ...

of Russian and Norwegian ships fishing illegally south of

Agadir Agadir ( ar, أݣادير, ʾagādīr; shi, ⴰⴳⴰⴷⵉⵔ) is a major city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Souss River flows into the ocean, and south ...

and bribes in contracts of meat imported from

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

for the army. Tobji also reported a number of other alleged corrupt practices.

Hospital incident

On 18 June 2014, Mustapha Adib a former captain in the Moroccan army who was imprisoned in 2000 for denouncing corruption in his military base of

Errachidia Errachidia ( ar, الرشيدية, Berber: ⵉⵎⴻⵜⵖⴰⵔⵏ Imetɣaren) is a city in Morocco, located in the Errachidia Province, and is the capital of the Drâa-Tafilalet region. The city's residents speak Berber and Moroccan Arabic. ...

and was forced to exile afterwards, visited the

Val-de-Grâce The (' or ') was a military hospital located at in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was closed as a hospital in 2016. History The church of the was built by order of Queen Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII. After the birth of h ...

, the hospital where Bennani was following treatment in France. He tried to visit the general but was not authorised to access the room, after which he left him a bouquet of cheap flowers and a message, in which he accused Bennani of being a criminal responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, the impoverishment of thousands of deceased soldiers children and a corrupt who stole state's assets. Through the official press agency,

Maghreb Arabe Presse Maroc Agence Presse (known as MAP, french: Maroc Agence Presse) is the Moroccan state-owned official news agency. History and profile The agency was founded on 31 May 1959 by Mehdi Bennouna in Rabat. It was nationalized in 1973. The directo ...

, the Moroccan state protested this incident and stated that Abdelaziz Bennani was "assaulted morally" 'sic''.html" ;"title="sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''">sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic'' with the tacit complacency of French authorities. The chief of Moroccan external intelligence ( DGED), Yassine Mansouri (also a classmate of king Mohammed VI of Morocco, Mohammed VI at the Collège Royal (Rabat), Collège Royal) summoned the French Ambassador in

to protest. The Moroccan ambassador in Paris and former minister of the Interior,

Chakib Benmoussa Chakib Benmoussa ( ar, شكيب بن موسى) (born 1958, Fes) is a Moroccan diplomat and politician. He previously served as the interior minister of Morocco Laurent Fabius Laurent Fabius (; born 20 August 1946) is a French politician serving as President of the Constitutional Council since 8 March 2016. A member of the Socialist Party, he previously served as Prime Minister of France from 17 July 1984 to 20 Marc ...

to express "dissatisfaction" over the incident, but was only received by his chief of cabinet. The incident came in a period where Moroccan authorities have been complaining about a number of incidents, including; a lawsuit filed in France against Abdellatif Hammouchi (the head of the Moroccan secret services), for allegedly torturing suspects (such as

Zakaria Moumni Zakaria Moumni ( ar, زكرياء مومني ); born 4 February 1980 is a former kickboxer who was detained by the Moroccan authorities between September 2010 and February 2012. Torture incident According to Moumni he was arrested in September 20 ...

), which prompted Morocco to suspend judiciary cooperation with France and is currently under investigation by French judges. Then there was an alleged quote by the French ambassador to the UN, in which he described the Moroccan state as a "mistress" that you don't love but have to defend. The quote allegedly came as an allegorical reply to actor

Javier Bardem Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem (; born 1 March 1969) is a Spanish actor. Known for his roles in Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and foreign films, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the psychopath, ...

who inquired of him about France's position on Western Sahara in the security council.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennani, Abdelaziz 1935 births 2015 deaths Moroccan military personnel People from Taza Moroccan generals People from Fez, Morocco

Early life

Family

Corruption allegations

Hospital incident

See also

References