King Hassan II, 35th descendant of the Prophet Mohammed and 17th sovereign of the Alaouite dynasty founded in 1666, was the absolute ruler of Morocco for 38 years, cruelly repressing opposition at home but gaining an international reputation for diplomatic genius.
From the age of two, the young prince was taught Arabic and the Koran as well as French. This double education made him a perfect intermediary. In the East, he was a fellow Arab and Muslim, while Western leaders laboured under the illusion that he shared their values. French politicians were charmed by his ability to quote from the French classics.
The young prince learned cynicism early. His father, Mohammed V, sent tens of thousands of Moroccans to fight with France in the second World War, only to find Paris had no intention of giving up its north African protectorate. The nationalist royal family, including Prince Hassan, was arrested and sent into exile in 1953. But in a first stroke of luck for the future king, the French were so preoccupied with their colonial war with Algeria that they granted Morocco independence on March 3rd, 1956, without a struggle.
As crown prince, Moulay Hassan bought neck-ties by the thousands, shirts by the hundreds, Cadillacs by the dozens. His taste for luxury never left him. Twentytwo palaces in Morocco were constantly kept ready for Hassan II's arrival. Although he wanted to be seen as a modern monarch, he maintained a harem with 50 concubines, among them women inherited from his father and slaves given by tribal leaders. Hassan II's first wife Latifa, a commoner who was chosen for him, bore him three daughters and two sons, including Sidi Mohammed, who became King Mohammed VI on the night of his death.
King Hassan II amassed a fortune estimated at over £1 billion. He owned residences in Europe and the US, but treated Morocco as his private property. Not content to reign, Hassan II governed as well, until 1998 choosing the country's prime minister and cabinet ministers. He quoted his father, Mohammed V, as saying, "Morocco is a lion that you must guide with a leash. He must never feel the chain." His own reign was a constant tug of war with the lion that was his people, he said. "When he pulls too hard, I give in a bit, and when he eases up, I pull."
Mehdi Ben Barka, an opposition leader believed to have plotted against Hassan II, was kidnapped by French and Moroccan intelligence agents in central Paris in 1965. His body was never found. More serious attempts on Hassan II's life followed. Army cadets opened fire at the King's 42nd birthday celebrations in 1971. The following year, when his Boeing 727 was returning from Paris, Moroccan fighter planes tried to shoot him down. General Mohammed Oufkir, who led the mutiny, was summoned to the palace and executed. His widow and six children were imprisoned in terrible conditions for 20 years - the sort of revenge that led Francois Mitterrand to speak of Hassan II's "needlessly cruel" character.
King Hassan II found new tasks to keep his army away from his palaces. In November 1975, the King staged his famous Green March, in which 350,000 Moroccans brandishing Korans, red Moroccan flags and posters of Hassan II laid claim to the Western Sahara.
The Moroccan army took a beating at the hands of the Polisario guerrillas but managed to hang on to the still disputed region.
If Hassan II earned a place in history, it was as a bridge between civilisations. The first secret contacts between Israeli and Egyptian envoys took place in his Rabat palace in 1977, leading to the Camp David Accords the following year. And it was under Hassan II's influence at Fez in September 1982, during the torment of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, that Arab leaders first accepted the principle of peace with Israel in exchange for Israeli-occupied land.
Hassan II countered Islamist agitation by showing himself to be a devout Muslim. He imposed prayer in Moroccan schools and made eating or drinking in daylight during Ramadan an offence punishable by imprisonment. The Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca - second only to the Great Mosque in Mecca and inaugurated in 1994 - was meant to be another sign of his piety.
In his last years, the King seemed wiser, more serene - and concerned about his image. He freed political opponents, shut down the infamous Tazmamart penal colony and allowed an opposition Socialist politician in his 70s to become prime minister. By comparison with the police state in Tunisia and the violence in Algeria, poor, corrupt Morocco began to look exemplary. King Hassan II had outlived or won over his opponents, and it was chain-smoking that did for him.