Omar Benjelloun (1936, in Oujda – 18 December 1975, in Casablanca) was a Moroccan journalist, engineer, lawyer and trade union activist.

Biography

Omar Benjelloun was born in 1936 in Oujda. He comes from one of the most affluent families in Morocco; nevertheless he attended French school and later studied law in France.[1] Following his graduation in telecommunications and law in Paris, Benjelloun returned to Morocco to take up a post as a regional director in telecommunications in Casablanca.[2] In 1959, after leaving the Istiqlal Party with other members, he went on to become the general secretary of the socialist party USFP (Union Socialiste des Forces Populaires), of which he had been a founding member, and editor of its newspaper Al Muharrir.[3][4]

In 1963 he received a death sentence under the rule of Hassan II, but was later pardoned.[5] He was again arrested in 1966 and 1973 and subjected to torture.[1]

On 18 December 1975 he was stabbed or battered to death in front of his home in Casablanca.[6] It is suspected that he was killed by the Shabiba Islamiya.[7] After Benjelloun's assassination, Abdelkrim Motii, founder of the Shabiba Islamiya, had to flee Morocco.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 Park, Thomas Kerlin; Boum, Aomar (2006). Historical Dictionary of Morocco. Scarecrow Press. pp. 62. ISBN 978-0-8108-5341-6.
  2. ↑ "Affaire Omar Benjelloun. Le crime aux mille mystères". Telquel. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
  3. ↑ Azzedine Layachi (2002). "Militant Islam in Morocco: The Perils of Exclusion and the Risks of Inclusion". NITLE Arab World Project. Archived from the original on 16 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  4. ↑ Park, Thomas K.; Boum, Aomar (2006). Historical Dictionary of Morocco. Scarecrow Press. pp. 62-63. ISBN 978-0-8108-6511-2.
  5. ↑ "عمر بن جلون". www.aljazeera.net. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
  6. ↑ "Il y a 35 ans disparaissait Omar Benjelloun". Libération. 18 December 2010. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
  7. ↑ "Paradigmatic Jihadi Movements" (PDF). Combating Terrorism Center, United States Military Academy. 2006. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
  8. ↑ Miller, Susan Gilson (2013). A history of modern Morocco. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-62469-5. OCLC 855022840.
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