Hamidou Laanigri ( ar, حميدو لعنيݣري) (born 1939 near Meknes) is a Moroccan general and former head of the intelligence service of the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior. Laanigri was often accused of acts of torture in relation to the detention of Islamist activists after the 2003 Casablanca bombing and in connection with the secret Temara interrogation centre.

Early life

In 1956 Laanigri started his career in the military as a Corporal working with general Driss Benomar—who is also from Meknes. Benomar sent Laanigri first to the military training school of Ahermoumou and then to the Officers School of Dar al-Bayda (Officers academy of Meknes), graduating with the rank of

Second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

(''sous-lieutenant''). He was deployed in Zag in 1960 and for a few months in Agadir. In 1962 he joined the Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie a year later and was posted to Tangiers and then

Kenitra Kenitra ( ar, القُنَيْطَرَة, , , ; ber, ⵇⵏⵉⵟⵔⴰ, Qniṭra; french: Kénitra) is a city in north western Morocco, formerly known as Port Lyautey from 1932 to 1956. It is a port on the Sebou River, Sebou river, has a popul ...

Gendarmerie career

In 1977 while a Colonel at the Gendarmerie he headed the military unit that was deployed to Zaire to help Mobutu quell the

Shaba I Shaba I was a conflict in Zaire's Shaba (Katanga) Province lasting from March 8 to May 26, 1977. The conflict began when the Front for the National Liberation of the Congo (FNLC), a group of about 2,000 Katangan Congolese soldiers who were vet ...

rebellion. In 1979 he was sent to the United Arab Emirates as a security instructor, returning to Morocco only in 1989.

Under Mohammed VI

In September 1999 he was promoted by Mohammed VI to head the DST (''Direction de Surveillance du Territoire'') as a replacement for Driss Basri. He was recommended by General Kadiri because he hated Islamists. In September 2006 he left the DST and was appointed as the General Inspector of the Auxiliary Forces. In late 2012 it was rumoured that he has retired, however in January 2014 he was reported as being the head of this paramilitary unit. Laanigri was the instigator of the

Groupes urbains de sécurité Groupes urbains de sécurité (GUS) (also known as "Croatia") ( en, Urban Security Groups) is a defunct Moroccan special police unit which dealt with urban matters using the "rapid intervention approach." Background GUS was established by the Di ...

(nickname Croatia) which were disbanded after he left the police directorate. In September 2011, Laanigri survived a road accident.

Early life

Gendarmerie career

Under Mohammed VI

References

See also