Driss Basri ( ar, إدريس البصري ', 8 November 1938 in
Settat
Settat ( ar, سطات, siṭṭāt, ber, ⵥⴻⵟⵟⴰⵜ, ẓeṭṭat) is a city in Morocco between the national capital Rabat and Marrakesh. Settat is located by road south of the centre of Casablanca, roughly an hour's drive. It is the cap ...
– 27 August 2007) was a Moroccan politician who served as
interior minister
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
from 1979 to 1999. After
General Oufkir
General Mohammad Oufkir ( ar, محمد أوفقير; 14 May 1920 − 16 August 1972) was a Moroccan senior military officer who held many important governmental posts. It is believed that he was assassinated for his alleged role in the failed 1 ...
's death in 1972, and then
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 ...
's death in 1983, Driss Basri became
Hassan II Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to:
People
*Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name
*Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scottis ...
Mohammed VI Muhammad VI may refer to:
* Muhammad Imaaduddeen VI (1868–1932), sultan of the Maldives from 1893 to 1902
* Mehmed VI (1861–1926), sultan of Ottoman Empire, from 1918 to 1922
* Mohammed VI of Morocco
Mohammed VI ( ar, محمد الساد ...
Rue 89
Rue89 is a French news website started by former journalists from the newspaper ''Libération''. It was officially launched on 6 May 2007, on the day of the second round of the French presidential election. Its news editor is Pascal Riché, forme ...
'', 27 August 2007 He then exiled himself to Paris, where he died of cancer in 2007.
Career
Basri came from a poor rural family originally from a village near
Settat
Settat ( ar, سطات, siṭṭāt, ber, ⵥⴻⵟⵟⴰⵜ, ẓeṭṭat) is a city in Morocco between the national capital Rabat and Marrakesh. Settat is located by road south of the centre of Casablanca, roughly an hour's drive. It is the cap ...
. His father emigrated to Rabat to work as a "Chaouch", a low rank warden in the administration. Driss Basri never completed secondary school (he did not obtain the
Baccalauréat
The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...
) and joined the police as an officer. Thanks to a relative from Casablanca who was the friend and director of the cabinet of
General Oufkir
General Mohammad Oufkir ( ar, محمد أوفقير; 14 May 1920 − 16 August 1972) was a Moroccan senior military officer who held many important governmental posts. It is believed that he was assassinated for his alleged role in the failed 1 ...
, he was promoted in the early 1960s, as the director of the cabinet of
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 ...
, who supervised the Moroccan secret police (
DST
Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time or simply daylight time (United States, Canada, and Australia), and summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks (typicall ...
, then named CAB1). This was during an era which saw the " disappearance" of
Socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
opponent
Mehdi Ben Barka use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) -->
, death_place =
, death_cause =
, body_discovered =
, resting_place =
, resting_place_coordinates = ...
Le Figaro
''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of reco ...
'', 23 May 2006 Aged 24, he was following in parallel law studies, and graduated in the
University of Grenoble
The Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA, French: meaning "''Grenoble Alps University''") is a public research university in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 resea ...
in France. Dlimi advised Basri that if he was to be further promoted he needed a degree, he then enrolled in university and obtained a bachelor in law.
In 1973, he
censored
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
Mohamed Choukri
Mohamed Choukri (Arabic: محمد شكري, Berber languages, Berber: ⵎⵓⵃⴰⵎⵎⴻⴷ ⵛⵓⴽⵔⵉ) (15 July 193515November 2003, was a Moroccan author and novelist who is best known for his internationally acclaimed autobiography ''Fo ...
's autobiography, ''For Bread Alone''.
Basri was then appointed as Secretary of state for Interior Affairs in 1974, becoming
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 ...
's right-hand man. Basri became the iron fist of Hassan II during the Years of Lead. In 1979, Driss Basri was promoted to the post of interior minister in the government of Ahmed Osman, a post he held in all successive governments until 1999. Beginning in 1985, he held the post of minister of information as well.Maroc: l'ex-puissant ministre de l'Intérieur de Hassan II inhumé à Rabat , AFP ('' Jeuneafrique.com''), 29 August 2007 . He won the confidence of
King Hassan II
Hassan II ( ar, الحسن الثاني, translit=al-Ḥasan aṯ-ṯhānī;), with the prefix "Mulay" before his enthronement 9 July 1929 – 23 July 1999) was the List of rulers of Morocco, King of Morocco from 1961 until his death in 1999.
H ...
, and during his time in office, the Ministry of Interior came to be known as the "mother of all ministries".
He was considered by his detractors as a hindrance to the democratisation of Morocco in the 1980s and 1990s. He was accused of creating "administrative" parties to counter the traditional nationalist and popular parties, and of rigging elections in favour of loyalists. Under his term some demonstrations were harshly repressed by police, such as in 1981 in Casablanca and 1990 in
Fes
Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 mi ...
.
Exile and death
Three months after King
Mohammed VI Muhammad VI may refer to:
* Muhammad Imaaduddeen VI (1868–1932), sultan of the Maldives from 1893 to 1902
* Mehmed VI (1861–1926), sultan of Ottoman Empire, from 1918 to 1922
* Mohammed VI of Morocco
Mohammed VI ( ar, محمد الساد ...
acceded to the throne in 1999, succeeding Hassan II, Basri was at last discharged from his ministerial functions on 9 November 1999. He went to live in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. In March 2004, his Moroccan passport was withdrawn, leading Basri to become, in effect, an illegal alien in France. However, he still travelled internationally, and was not disturbed by the
French police
Law enforcement in France has a long history dating back to AD 570 when night watch systems were commonplace.Dammer, H. R. and Albanese, J. S. (2014). ''Comparative Criminal Justice Systems'' (5th ed.). Wadesworth Cengage learning: Belmont, ...
.
Basri reportedly had an animosity with
Fouad Ali El Himma
Fouad Ali El Himma ( ar, فؤاد عالي الهمة; born 6 December 1962, in Ben Guerir, Morocco) is a Moroccan politician and senior advisor for Mohammed VI of whom he is said to be a very close friend. Since he became Secretary of State in th ...
, the close influential friend of Mohammed VI (then crown prince). They had conflictual relations during the time in which El Himma worked at the ministry of the Interior.
Basri was heard by the judge Patrick Ramaël in May 2006, as a witness, concerning
Mehdi Ben Barka use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) -->
, death_place =
, death_cause =
, body_discovered =
, resting_place =
, resting_place_coordinates = ...
's kidnapping. Basri declared to the magistrate that he had not been linked to the Ben Barka Affair. He added that "it is possible that the King knew. It is legitimate to think that
de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
possessed some information…"
Driss Basri died in Paris on 27 August 2007. He was buried in
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 ...
on 29 August; The Interior Minister in 2007
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 MoroccoChakib Benmoussa
Chakib Benmoussa ( ar, شكيب بن موسى) (born 1958, Fes) is a Moroccan diplomat and politician. He previously served as the interior minister of MoroccoKhelli Henna Ould Rachid
*
History of Morocco
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...