On October 22, 1956, French forces hijacked a Moroccan civilian aircraft carrying leaders of the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) during the ongoing

Algerian War The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

. The

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

belonging to the (CCTA) was carrying

Ahmed Ben Bella Ahmed Ben Bella ( ar, أحمد بن بلّة '; 25 December 1916 – 11 April 2012) was an Algerian politician, soldier and socialist revolutionary who served as the head of government of Algeria from 27 September 1962 to 15 September 1963 an ...

Hocine Aït Ahmed Hocine Aït Ahmed ( ar, حسين آيت أحمد‎; 20 August 1926 – 23 December 2015) was an Algerian politician. He was founder and leader until 2009 of the historical political opposition in Algeria. Life Aït Ahmed was born at Aï ...

Mohamed Boudiaf Mohamed Boudiaf (23 June 1919 – 29 June 1992, ar, محمد بوضياف; ALA-LC: ''Muḥammad Bū-Ḍiyāf''), also called Si Tayeb el Watani, was an Algerian political leader and one of the founders of the revolutionary National Liberat ...

, , and

Mohamed Khider Muhammad was an Islamic prophet and a religious and political leader who preached and established Islam. Muhammad and variations may also refer to: *Muhammad (name), a given name and surname, and list of people with the name and its variations ...

. It was destined to leave from

Palma de Mallorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situate ...

for

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

where the FLN leaders were to conference with Prime Minister

Habib Bourguiba Habib Bourguiba (; ar, الحبيب بورقيبة, al-Ḥabīb Būrqībah; 3 August 19036 April 2000) was a Tunisian lawyer, nationalist leader and statesman who led the country from 1956 to 1957 as the prime minister of the Kingdom of T ...

, but French forces intercepted the civilian aircraft over the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

and redirected the flight to occupied

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

, where the FLN leaders were arrested, derailing the planned conference in Tunis. It's considered one of the most important events in the

Context

The French protectorate over

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

had ended months before, and King Muhammad V supported the FLN in the struggle for Algerian independence.

Details

On October 21, 1956, King

Muhammad V of Morocco Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mono ...

received a delegation of leaders of the Algerian National Liberation Front—

, , and

—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 ...

. France disapproved of the meeting and

Alain Savary Alain Savary (25 April 191817 February 1988) was a French Socialist politician, deputy to the National Assembly of France during the Fourth and Fifth Republic, chairman of the Socialist Party (PS) and a government minister in the 1950s and i ...

, French Secretary of State for Tunisian and Moroccan Affairs under

Guy Mollet Guy Alcide Mollet (; 31 December 1905 – 3 October 1975) was a French politician. He led the socialist French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) from 1946 to 1969 and was the French Prime Minister from 1956 to 1957. As Prime Minister ...

, announced the suspension of aid to Morocco. October 22 at midday, with fake documents, the FLN delegation left Rabat for Tunis by way of

Palma Palma or La Palma means palm in a number of languages and may also refer to: Geography Africa *Palma, Mozambique, city ** Palma District *La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, Spain **La Palma (DO), a ''Denominación de Origen'' for wines from the ...

in Spain in order to avoid flying over Algeria to circumvent France. The

registered "F. OABV" belonged to the (CCTA), an

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

owned by the Moroccan state. After departing Palma, French forces over the Mediterranean redirected the Moroccan aircraft and forced it to land in

, where the FLN delegation was arrested. , Secretary of State for the Armed Forces, and and other French generals in Algiers were responsible for the operation, without interference from

Robert Lacoste Robert Lacoste (5 July 1898 – 8 March 1989) was a French politician. He was a socialist MP of the Dordogne from 1945 to 1958, and from 1962 to 1967. He then served as senator from 1971 to 1980. Biography Robert Lacoste was born at Azerat ...

, French resident minister and governor general of Algiers at the time. The hijacking and arrest of the FLN leadership derailed the planned conference in Tunis, to have been attended by the FLN delegation as well as

and Muhammad V, with the goal of establishing a North African Federation to promote the independence of Algeria and end the French-Algerian war.

Aftermath

King Muhammad V of Morocco was distraught and "feared for his own life." Anti-French riots broke out targeting French people in and around

Meknes Meknes ( ar, مكناس, maknās, ; ber, ⴰⵎⴽⵏⴰⵙ, amknas; french: Meknès) is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, located in northern central Morocco and the sixth largest city by population in the kingdom. Founded in the 11th c ...

, with dozens of casualties.

Legacy

Maati Monjib Maati Monjib ( ar, المعطي منجب, born 6 March 1962) is a Moroccan university professor, journalist, historian, writer and political activist. Monjib holds two PhDs, one from France in North African politics and another from Senegal on Afr ...

mentioned historians discussing the event as the first instance of a passenger

aircraft hijacking Aircraft hijacking (also known as airplane hijacking, skyjacking, plane hijacking, plane jacking, air robbery, air piracy, or aircraft piracy, with the last term used within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States) is the unlawfu ...

in history, but it is not the case.

References

{{Algerian War Aircraft hijackings National Liberation Front (Algeria) Algerian War France–Morocco relations October 1956 events 1956 in Morocco Algeria–Morocco relations