In a visit to Morocco, the Queen of England was angered by King Hassan II's tardiness. In a book by Robert Hardman, the details of this trip that was later named «the tour from hell», were revealed pointing out at a part of the sovereign’s personality.
On the 20th of October 2011, the Libyan President, revolutionary militant and political theorist was captured and killed by rebel militia from Misrata. A terrible ending for Muammar Gaddafi, who had planned in the past to assassinate Arab leaders. King Hassan II was also targeted by the Libyan colonel, who assigned the Palestinian terrorist, Abu Nidal to conduct the operation. Details.
In October 1963, the wife of the 35th US president arrived in Marrakech in one of her first private visits to Morocco. Jacqueline Kennedy’s trip to the Kingdom came just a month before her husband’s assassination and a few months after King Hassan II’s trip to Washington. Flashback.
As part of the eight Arab countries that fought the October war, Morocco sent the one and only battalion it possesses in 1973 to Syria. Once there, Moroccan soldiers fought bravely on the Golan Heights even though they were betrayed by their Syrian counterparts. Flashback.
Morocco was one of the eight Arab countries that participated to the Yom Kippur war, fought between from the 6th to teh 25th of October 1973. King Hassan II ordered Moroccan soldiers to take part of one of the deadliest Arab-Israeli wars in the history of the Middle East. Flashback.
In 1963, 1981 and 1996, the late king Hassan II ordered Moroccans to call off Eid al-Adha. Not celebrating the annual feast was due to several reasons such as the economic crisis, drought and the state of the herd; however, these explanations convinced Moroccans only twice.
In Morocco, Egyptian singer Abdelhalim Hafed lived one of the scariest moments of his life. Invited by King Hassan II, he was held in Rabat’s main radio station taken over by rebels during the 1971 attempted coup d’état.
During a 1993 meeting in Rabat, King Hassan II and an Israeli delegation discussed the position of Palestinians and Israelis following the Oslo I Accord. During this meeting, the late King was very critical of Yassir Arafat’s position.
In 1981, King Hassan II of Morocco flew to the Kenyan capital to participate in an Organization of African Unity summit. In Nairobi, he announced that Morocco is ready to agree to a referendum on the self-determination of the Sahara. Three years later, the continental organization said yes to the «Sahrawi Republic’s», bid to join it as a full member.
From 1981 to 1989, while affirming its refusal to negotiate directly with the Polisario Front, the Kingdom sent its emissaries to meet those of the separatist movement several times. However, these meetings, including one chaired by Hassan II, failed to fulfill their objectives.