Khalili Ben Mohamed El Bechir Erguibi (or Rguibi) (1925–2017) was a Moroccan

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, member of the Southern Liberation Army and a member of

CORCAS The Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs ( ar, المجلس الملكي الاستشاري للشؤون الصحراوية; french: Conseil royal consultatif pour les affaires sahariennes) is an advisory committee to the Moroccan governm ...

. He is the father of Mohamed Abdelaziz, the 3rd Secretary General of the Polisario Front.

Biography

Khalili was born in 1925 in the region of Oued Saguia el-Hamra as a member of the nomadic Reguibat tribe who transhumed in the northeast of the

Spanish Sahara Spanish Sahara ( es, Sahara Español; ar, الصحراء الإسبانية, As-Sahrā'a Al-Isbānīyah), officially the Spanish Possessions in the Sahara from 1884 to 1958 then Province of the Sahara between 1958 and 1976, was the name used f ...

. In 1956, he went to welcome and pledge allegiance to King Mohammed V after his return from exile, and joined as commander, the Southern Liberation Army (a branch of the

Moroccan Army of Liberation The Army of Liberation ( ary, جيش التحرير, translit=Jish Etteḥrir; ber, Aserdas Uslelli, script=Latn) was an organization of various loosely united militias fighting for the independence of Morocco from the French-Spanish coalitio ...

). After the disbandment of the Moroccan Liberation Army, he surrendered arms to the

Royal Moroccan Armed Forces The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (, ) are the military forces of the Kingdom of Morocco. They consist of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Royal Gendarmerie, and the Royal Guard. The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces are large, expensive and well ...

and joined their Ranks. He was assigned to Tan Tan,

Chefchaouen Chefchaouen ( ar, شفشاون, Shafshāwan, ), also known as Chaouen (), is a city in northwest Morocco. It is the chief town of the province of the same name and is noted for its buildings in shades of blue, for which it is nicknamed the "Blu ...

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 ...

Marrakech Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

Kasbah Tadla Kasba Tadla ( ar, قصبة تادلة, Qaṣba Tadla; Berber: ⴰⵢⵜ ⵎⵍⵍⴰⵍ) is a town in Béni-Mellal Province, Béni Mellal-Khénifra, Morocco. According to the 2004 census it has a population of 200 ,898. The highest temperature ev ...

until his retirement in 1980. In 1963, he participated in the

Sand War The Sand War or the Sands War () was a border conflict between Algeria and Morocco in October 1963. It resulted largely from the Moroccan government's claim to portions of Algeria's Tindouf and Béchar provinces. The Sand War led to heightene ...

and was the commander of the Moroccan corps. The last time he saw his son Mohamed Abdelaziz, dates back to 1972, when he was part of the Royal Moroccan Army, while Mohamed Abdelaziz was continuing his studies in Rabat and decided to join the ranks of the Polisario without informing him. In an 2007 interview with '' Asharq Al-Awsat,'' he said, "I was working and assured to send him money so that he could continue his studies in Rabat, and I thought that he was persevering for the sake of knowledge achievement, but I was surprised that he was leaving Rabat in the direction of the Algerian capital." In 2001, he was received by 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 السادس ...

, then appointed to the

Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs The Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs ( ar, المجلس الملكي الاستشاري للشؤون الصحراوية; french: Conseil royal consultatif pour les affaires sahariennes) is an advisory committee to the Moroccan governm ...

(CORCAS) in 2006. On 18 November 18 2016, he was awarded the Wissam Al Mokafaa Al Watania (National Order of Merit), by King Mohammed VI.

Death

On 21 October 2017, he died at the Military Hospital of Inezgane, where he had been admitted two days earlier following gastric complications. After three days, Morocco's High Commissioner of Former Resisters and Members of the Liberation Army paid a posthumous tribute to him "saluting the memory of a fervent defender of national unity and a fighter to countless heroic acts."

Family

Erguibi had 13 children, the majority of them live in

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 ...

, while Mohamed Abdelaziz and two of his sisters live in the Sahrawi refugee camps. His son, Mohamed Abdelaziz, was a student in the Mohammed V University of Rabat, who became one of the founding members of the Polisario Front and its 3rd Secretary General. His son, Mohamed El Habib Erguibi, is a pro-Polisario lawyer and an active lobbyist with foreign delegations, he works from his office in Laayoune. His son, Driss, is a surgeon in

CHU Chu or CHU may refer to: Chinese history * Chu (state) (c. 1030 BC–223 BC), a state during the Zhou dynasty * Western Chu (206 BC–202 BC), a state founded and ruled by Xiang Yu * Chu Kingdom (Han dynasty) (201 BC–70 AD), a kingdom of the Ha ...

Ibn Rochd of Casablanca. His son, Mohamed Salem, works in Smara. His son, Mohamed Saïd, is an engineer in

, where his younger brother Mustapha, is also employed as a secretary. His son, Ahmed, is a provincial administrator in Beni Mellal. As for his daughters, Asma, is an optician in Agadir, El Ouilda is a housewife in Laayoune, Fatimatou is a municipal employee in Smara and Khadijatou is seamstress in Kasbah Tadla.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erguibi, Khalili 1925 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Moroccan people 21st-century Moroccan people Members of the Moroccan Army of Liberation Moroccan military personnel